Synthesis of cytidine diphosphate-d-quinovose

Improved Synthesis of Cytidine Diphosphate Choline (CDP-Choline) Via Selective Phosphorylation

An improved, three-step synthesis of cytidine diphosphate choline (CDP-choline) from cytidine was achieved in 68% overall yield. Selective phosphorylation of cytidine was accomplished by the use of morpholinophosphodichloridate to give cytidine-5′-phosphomorpholide, which was condensed with choline phosphate chloride in the presence of a catalytic amount of H2SO4 to give CDP-choline. The intermediates and products could be efficiently purified by recrystallisation, thus avoiding the use of chromatography at all stages. The reaction could be scaled up to 200 g in 64% overall yield, making this route attractive for industrial application.

Organoboron-Promoted Regioselective Glycosylations in the Synthesis of a Saponin-Derived Pentasaccharide from Spergularia ramosa

Organoboron-mediated regioselective glycosylations were employed as key steps in the total synthesis of a branched pentasaccharide from a saponin natural product. The ability to use organoboron activation to differentiate OH groups in an unprotected glycosyl acceptor, followed by substrate-controlled reactions of the obtained disaccharide, enabled a streamlining of the synthesis relative to a protective group-based approach. This study revealed a matching/mismatching effect of the relative configuration of donor and acceptor on the efficiency of a regioselective glycosylation reaction, a problem that was solved through the development of a novel boronic acid-amine copromoter system for glycosyl acceptor activation.

Synthesis of neosaponins and neoglycolipids containing a chacotriosyl moiety

Alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1-->4)-[alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1-->2)]-beta-D-glucopyranose (chacotriose) is the oligosaccharide moiety of dioscin. Chacotriosyl trichloroacetimidate was synthesized from d-glucose and l-rhamnose, and glycosylated to mevalonate (diosgenin, cholesterol, and glycyrrhetic acid) to yield dioscin and neosaponins. In order to simplify the structure of the aglycone part, the mevalonate moiety was replaced with double-chain neoglycolipids that mimicked glycosyl ceramides. A cytotoxicity test revealed the importance of the glycosidic linkage of the naturally occurring beta-form and that dioscin and the neoglycolipid with the longest chain showed a moderate activity.