1) The abstract has no explicit Purpose statement and it is only finally revealed at the end of the first paragraph and beginning of the second. This makes the purpose of the paper unclear to readers who are not familiar with this topic and why the research was pursued. 2) This abstract also does not explicitly state the significance of the research to the larger scientific community. It is only in the concluding paragraph, not the abstract, that we find out why this area of study is important and applicable.

1) The abstract is very concise in style and explains the important findings that the researchers discovered in their study. They were able to show that the reaction can be made more efficient with specific catalysts and/or specific epoxides. 2) The finding that the reaction proceeds through an Sn2-type mechanism puts the content of the abstract into more familiar words for those who have studied this common mechanism.

This first sentence explicitly informs the reader of the outcomes of the researchers' experiments and what compounds were used to synthesize their end product. This tells us that specific Lewis-Acid catalysts allow efficient formation of azulenylethanol products from the reaction between azulene and epoxides.

This line indicates the next step of the research. They aim to now study the azulene derivates they synthesized in order to further understand their reactivity.

This line clearly explains why the study was important. The researchers were able to show that the mechanism can be applied to many types of azulene derivatives since it proceeds through familiar Sn2 mechanisms.

This sentence explains the techniques the researchers used in their experiments, such as using "enantioenriched epoxides" to form chiral azulene products. Furthermore they were able to conduct the reaction through the familiar Sn2 mechanism

This sentence further builds on the results of the experimental research. It also contributes as a semi-conclusion as it shows this reaction goes through a familiar Sn2 process and a mechanism can be deduced and interpreted.

These two sentences tell us what specifically the researchers did to study the effect of Lewis-Acid catalysts on the formation of azulenylethanol products.

This line tells us another reason why it was important for the researchers to study this topic. (Because it leads to more "functionally rich molecules")

This last sentence in the first paragraph tells us why the researchers chose to study this type of reaction. They chose this topic in order to find more efficient ways to make azulene more functional.

This sentence tells us of an additional result found during experimentation. They report that specific oxetanes can also lead to more product formation through a similar mechanism and conditions.

This sentence tells us that the scientists found that the reaction proceeds with high regioselectivity. This further builds on the results of their experiments.