Investigation of the H-bond-mediated aglycone delivery reaction in application to the synthesis of β-glucosides

Direct Synthesis of 2,6-Dideoxy-β-glycosides and β-Rhamnosides with a Stereodirecting 2-(Diphenylphosphinoyl)acetyl Group

Anomeric stereocontrol is usually one of the major issues in the synthesis of complex carbohydrates, particularly those involving β-configured 2,6-dideoxyglycoside and d/l-rhamnoside moieties. Herein, we report that 2-(diphenylphosphinoyl)acetyl is highly effective as a remote stereodirecting group in the direct synthesis of these challenging β-glycosides under mild conditions. A deoxy-trisaccharide as a mimic of the sugar chain of landomycin E was prepared stereospecifically in high yield. The synthetic potential was also highlighted in the synthesis of Citrobacter freundii O-antigens composed of a [→4)-α-d-Manp-(1→3)-β-d-Rhap(1→4)-β-d-Rhap-(1→] repeating unit, wherein the convergent assembly up to a nonasaccharide was realized with a strongly β-directing trisaccharide donor. Variable-temperature NMR studies indicate the presence of intermolecular H-bonding between the donor and the bulky acceptor as direct spectral evidence in support of the concept of hydrogen-bond-mediated aglycone delivery.

Exploiting non-covalent interactions in selective carbohydrate synthesis

Non-covalent interactions (NCIs) are a vital component of biological bond-forming events, and have found important applications in multiple branches of chemistry. In recent years, the biomimetic exploitation of NCIs in challenging glycosidic bond formation and glycofunctionalizations has attracted significant interest across diverse communities of organic and carbohydrate chemists. This emerging theme is a major new direction in contemporary carbohydrate chemistry, and is rapidly gaining traction as a robust strategy to tackle long-standing issues such as anomeric and site selectivity. This Review thus seeks to provide a bird's-eye view of wide-ranging advances in harnessing NCIs within the broad field of synthetic carbohydrate chemistry. These include the exploitation of NCIs in non-covalent catalysed glycosylations, in non-covalent catalysed glycofunctionalizations, in aglycone delivery, in stabilization of intermediates and transition states, in the existence of intramolecular hydrogen bonding networks and in aggregation by hydrogen bonds. In addition, recent emerging opportunities in exploiting halogen bonding and other unconventional NCIs, such as CH-π, cation-π and cation-n interactions, in various aspects of carbohydrate chemistry are also examined.

Conformation-Controlled Hydrogen-Bond-Mediated Aglycone Delivery Method for α-Xylosylation

α-Xylosylated glycans and xylosyl derivatives are biomedically important molecules which show numerous bioactivities against infection, cancer, inflammation, and so on. Lacking an efficient α-xylosylation method, the synthesis of α-xyloside-containing molecules was full of challenges. Herein, a robust method is presented for selective α-xylosylation via combination of a rare conformation-controlled strategy and the hydrogen-bond-mediated aglycone delivery method. Various native branched α-xyloside structures necessitate an orthogonally protected xyloside, and a three-pot preparation method of the xylosyl donor was developed for this novel α-xylosylation method, which was further applied in the first synthesis of the side chain N of xyloglucan. This work provides an efficient α-xylosylation method which would make various α-xyloside structures achievable. The conformation-controlled strategy also has important reference to the chemistry of five-carbon pyranose.

Picoloyl protecting group in synthesis: focus on a highly chemoselective catalytic removal

The picoloyl ester (Pico) has proven to be a versatile protecting group in carbohydrate chemistry. It can be used for the purpose of stereocontrolling glycosylations via an H-bond-mediated Aglycone Delivery (HAD) method. It can also be used as a temporary protecting group that can be efficiently introduced and chemoselectively cleaved in the presence of practically all other common protecting groups used in synthesis. Herein, we will describe a new method for rapid, catalytic, and highly chemoselective removal of the picoloyl group using inexpensive copper(ii) or iron(iii) salts.

Synthesis of β-Glucosides with 3-O-Picoloyl-Protected Glycosyl Donors in the Presence of Excess Triflic Acid: Defining the Scope

Excellent β-stereoselectivity for the glycosylation with glucosyl donors equipped with the 3-O-picoloyl (Pico) group, without the use of participating group, was achieved in the presence of NIS/excess TfOH promoter system. A complete investigation of the scope of this reaction was performed, revealing all important attributes of successful glycosylation. While altering the halogen source was tolerated, substitution of the triflate anion resulted in complete loss of stereoselectivity. Protonation of the Pico group was determined to be crucial in this reaction. The stability or extent of the protonated pyridine ring was also found to be another important key factor in obtaining high stereoselectivity. The nucleophilicity of the acceptor was found to be proportional to the stereoselectivity obtained, suggesting an S_N 2-like mechanism.

Synthesis of β-Glucosides with 3-O-Picoloyl-Protected Glycosyl Donors in the Presence of Excess Triflic Acid: A Mechanistic Study

Our previous study showed that picoloylated donors are capable of providing excellent facial stereoselectivity through the H-bond-mediated aglycone delivery (HAD) pathway. Presented herein is a detailed mechanistic study of stereoselective glycosylation with 3-O-picoloylated glucosyl donors. While reactions of glycosyl donors equipped with the 3-O-benzoyl group are typically non-stereoselective because these reactions proceed via the oxacarbenium intermediate, 3-O-picoloylated donors are capable of providing enhanced, but somewhat relaxed, β-stereoselectivity by the HAD pathway. In an attempt to refine this reaction, we noticed that glycosylations are highly β-stereoselective in the presence of NIS and stoichiometric TfOH. The HAD pathway is highly unlikely because the picoloyl nitrogen is protonated under these reaction conditions. The protonation and glycosylation were studied by low-temperature NMR, and the intermediacy of the glycosyl triflate has been observed. This article is dedicated to broadening the scope of this reaction in application to a variety of substrates and targets.