Fragmentation of Carbohydrate Anomeric Alkoxyl Radicals: Synthesis of Chiral Polyhydroxylated β-Iodo- and Alkenylorganophosphorus(V) Compounds

Exploiting photoredox catalysis for carbohydrate modification through C–H and C–C bond activation

Photoredox catalysis has recently emerged as a powerful synthetic platform for accessing complex chemical structures through non-traditional bond disconnection strategies that proceed through free-radical intermediates. Such synthetic strategies have been used for a range of organic transformations; however, in carbohydrate chemistry they have primarily been applied to the generation of oxocarbenium ion intermediates in the ubiquitous glycosylation reaction. In this Review, we present more intricate light-induced synthetic strategies to modify native carbohydrates through homolytic C-H and C-C bond cleavage. These strategies allow access to glycans and glycoconjugates with profoundly altered carbohydrate skeletons, which are challenging to obtain through conventional synthetic means. Carbohydrate derivatives with such structural motifs represent a broad class of natural products integral to numerous biochemical processes and can be found in active pharmaceutical substances. Here we present progress made in C-H and C-C bond activation of carbohydrates through photoredox catalysis, focusing on the operational mechanisms and the scope of the described methodologies.

Intramolecular Metal-Free C(sp3)-H Activation Enables a Selective Mono O-Debenzylation of Fully Protected Aminosugars

Carbamate-bearing benzylated aminosugars undergo an I₂/I(III)-promoted intramolecular hydrogen atom transfer (IHAT) followed by a nucleophilic attack to provide polycyclic structures. Thus, suitably positioned benzyl ethers are surgically oxidized into the corresponding mixed N/O-benzylidene acetals, which can be conveniently deprotected under mild acidic conditions to grant access to selectively O-deprotected aminosugars amenable for further derivatization. The scope of this strategy has been proven with a series of furanosic and pyranosic scaffolds. Preliminary mechanistic studies, including Hammett LFER and KIE analyses, support a reaction pathway with nucleophilic cyclization as the rate-determining step.

Tandem Radical Fragmentation/Cyclization of Guanidinylated Monosaccharides Grants Access to Medium-Sized Polyhydroxylated Heterocycles

The fragmentation of anomeric alkoxyl radicals (ARF) and the subsequent cyclization promoted by hypervalent iodine provide an excellent method for the synthesis of guanidino-sugars. The methodology described herein is one of the few existing general methodologies for the formation of medium-sized exo- and endoguanidine-containing heterocycles presenting a high degree of oxygenation in their structure.

Synthetic Approaches to Phosphasugars (2-oxo-1,2-oxaphosphacyclanes) Using the Anomeric Alkoxyl Radical β-Fragmentation Reaction as the Key Step

The anomeric alkoxyl radical β-fragmentation (ARF) of carbohydrates possessing an electron-withdrawing group (EWG) at C2, promoted by PhI(OAc)₂/I₂, gives rise to an acyclic iodide through which a pentavalent atom of phosphorus can be introduced via the Arbuzov reaction. After selective hydrolysis and subsequent cyclization, the phosphonate or phosphinate intermediates can be converted into 2-deoxy-1-phosphahexopyranose and 2-deoxy-1-phosphapentopyranose sugars. The ARF of carbohydrates with an electron-donor group (EDG) at C2 proceeds by a radical-polar crossover mechanism, and the cyclization occurs by nucleophilic attack of a conveniently positioned phosphonate or phosphinate group to the transient oxocarbenium ion. This alternative methodology leads to 5-phosphasugars with a 4-deoxy-5-phosphapentopyranose framework. The structure and conformation of the 2-oxo-1,2-oxaphosphinane and 2-oxo-1,2-oxaphospholane ring systems in different carbohydrate models have been studied by NMR and X-ray crystallography.

Addition of Heteroatom Radicals to endo-Glycals †

Radical reactions have found many applications in carbohydrate chemistry, especially in the construction of carbon–carbon bonds. The formation of carbon–heteroatom bonds has been less intensively studied. This mini-review will summarize the efforts to add heteroatom radicals to unsaturated carbohydrates like endo-glycals. Starting from early examples, developed more than 50 years ago, the importance of such reactions for carbohydrate chemistry and recent applications will be discussed. After a short introduction, the mini-review is divided in sub-chapters according to the heteroatoms halogen, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur. The mechanisms of radical generation by chemical or photochemical processes and the subsequent reactions of the radicals at the 1-position will be discussed. This mini-review cannot cover all aspects of heteroatom-centered radicals in carbohydrate chemistry, but should provide an overview of the various strategies and future perspectives.

Oxazoline-/Copper-Catalyzed Alkoxyl Radical Generation: Solvent-Switched to Access 3a,3a'-Bisfuroindoline and 3-Alkoxyl Furoindoline

We report the first example of oxazoline-/copper-catalyzed alcohol oxidation to generate the alkoxyl radical under additive-free conditions. The resulting alkoxyl radical addition to alkene enables useful C-O bond-forming and selective C(sp³)-C(sp³) radical-radical dimerization/radical-trapping reactions, providing direct access to the 3a,3a'-bisfuro[2,3-b]indoline scaffold for the first time and a wide range of 3-alkoxyl furoindolines with high efficiency.

Synthesis of Chiral Polyhydroxylated Benzimidazoles by a Tandem Radical Fragmentation/Cyclization Reaction: A Straight Avenue to Fused Aromatic-Carbohydrate Hybrids

The synthesis of benzimidazole-fused iminosugars through a tandem β-fragmentation-intramolecular cyclization reaction is described. The use of the benzimidazole ring as the internal nucleophile and the use of phenyliodosophthalate (PhI(Phth)), a new metal-free and low toxic hypervalent iodine reagent, are the most remarkable novelties of this synthetic strategy. With this approach, we have demonstrated the usefulness of the fragmentation of anomeric alkoxyl radicals promoted by the PhI(Phth)/I₂ system for the preparation of new compounds with potential interest for both medicinal and synthetic chemists.

Visible-Light-Mediated Ring-Opening Strategy for the Regiospecific Allylation/Formylation of Cycloalkanols

Here we describe a straightforward and efficient approach for regiospecific introduction of an allyl group into cycloalkanol molecules employing a visible-light-mediated ring-opening strategy. A wide range of distally allylated or formylated ketones is furnished from 1-aryl cycloalkanol precursors of variable ring sizes, providing a concise and practical access for the modification of complex natural products. Preliminary mechanistic studies demonstrate that the key O-centered radicals mediate the sequential ring cleavage and allylation/formylation.

Selective P-C(sp3 ) Bond Cleavage and Radical Alkynylation of α-Phosphorus Alcohols by Photoredox Catalysis

Herein the first P-C(sp³ ) bond cleavage and radical alkynylation of α-phosphorus alcohols to construct phosphonoalkynes is reported. The phosphorus radical is generated upon P-C bond cleavage reaction via the alkoxyl radical through photoredox catalysis with cyclic iodine(III) reagents. Various arylphosphinoyl-, alkylphosphinoyl-, phosphonate-, and phosphonic amide alcohols serve as radical phosphorus precursors to construct phosphonoalkynes for the first time.

Visible-Light-Induced Alkoxyl Radical Generation Enables Selective C(sp(3))-C(sp(3)) Bond Cleavage and Functionalizations

The alkoxyl radical is an important reactive intermediate in mechanistic studies and organic synthesis; however, its current generation from alcohol oxidation heavily relies on transition metal activation under strong oxidative conditions. Here we report the first visible-light-induced alcohol oxidation to generate alkoxyl radicals by cyclic iodine(III) reagent catalysis under mild reaction conditions. The β-fragmentation of alkoxyl radicals enables selective C(sp(3))-C(sp(3)) bond cleavage and alkynylation/alkenylation reactions with various strained cycloalkanols, and for the first time with linear alcohols.