Sterically Hindered 2,4,6-Tri-tert-butylpyridinium Salts as Single Hydrogen Bond Donors for Highly Stereoselective Glycosylation Reactions of Glycals

Harnessing Multistep Chalcogen Bonding Activation in the α-Stereoselective Synthesis of Iminoglycosides

The use of noncovalent interactions (NCIs) has received significant attention as a pivotal synthetic handle. Recently, the exploitation of unconventional NCIs has gained considerable traction in challenging reaction manifolds such as glycosylation due to their capacity to facilitate entry into difficult-to-access sugars and glycomimetics. While investigations involving oxacyclic pyrano- or furanoside scaffolds are relatively common, methods that allow the selective synthesis of biologically important iminosugars are comparatively rare. Here, we report the capacity of a phosphonochalcogenide (PCH) to catalyze the stereoselective α-iminoglycosylation of iminoglycals with a wide array of glycosyl acceptors with remarkable protecting group tolerance. Mechanistic studies have illuminated the counterintuitive role of the catalyst in serially activating both the glycosyl donor and acceptor in the up/downstream stages of the reaction through chalcogen bonding (ChB). The dynamic interaction of chalcogens with substrates opens up new mechanistic opportunities based on iterative ChB catalyst engagement and disengagement in multiple elementary steps.

Anion-Bridged Dual Hydrogen Bond Enabled Concerted Addition of Phenol to Glycal

A noncovalent organocatalytic concerted addition of phenol to glycal is developed for the stereoselective and regioselective construction of biologically important phenolic 2-deoxyglycosides, featuring wide substrate tolerance. The method relies on an anion-bridged dual hydrogen bond interaction which is experimentally proved by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), Ultraviolet and visible (UV-vis), and fluorescence analysis. Experimental evidence including kinetic analysis, Kinetic Isotope Effect (KIE) studies, linear free energy relationship, Hammett plot, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations is provided for a concerted mechanism where a high-energy oxocarbenium ion is not formed. In addition, the potential utility of this method is further demonstrated by the synthesis of biologically active glycosylated flavones. The benchmarking studies demonstrate significant advances in this newly developed method compared to previous approaches.

Exploiting π and Chalcogen Interactions for the β-Selective Glycosylation of Indoles through Glycal Conformational Distortion

Harnessing unconventional noncovalent interactions (NCIs) is emerging as a formidable synthetic approach in difficult-to-access glycosidic chemical space. C-Glycosylation, in particular, has gained a flurry of recent attention. However, most reported methods are restricted to the relatively facile access to α-C-glycosides. Herein, we disclose a β-stereoselective glycosylation of indoles by employing a phosphonoselenide catalyst. The robustness of this protocol is exemplified by its amenability for reaction at both the indolyl C- and N- reactivity sites. In contrast to previous reports, in which the chalcogens were solely involved in Lewis acidic activation, our mechanistic investigation unraveled that the often neglected flanking aromatic substituents of phosphonoselenides can substantially contribute to catalysis by engaging in π-interactions. Computations and NMR spectroscopy indicated that the chalcogenic and aromatic components of the catalyst can be collectively exploited to foster conformational distortion of the glycal away from the usual half-chair to the boat conformation, which liberates the convex β-face for nucleophilic attack.

Influence of Various Silyl Protecting Groups on Stereoselective 2-Deoxyrhamnosylation

The influence of various silyl protecting groups on 2-deoxyrhamnosylation using 2-deoxyrhamnosyl acetates, thioglycosides, and (p-methoxyphenyl)vinylbenzoate (PMPVB) donors has been presented. C-Glycosylation reactions reveal that tert-butyldimethylsilyl (TBDMS), triisopropylsilyl (TIPS), and tert-butyldiphenylsilyl (TBDPS) silyl protected rhamnosyl oxocarbenium ions have no facial selectivity except for the conformationally (⁴H₃) locked tetraisopropyldisiloxane (TIPDS) protected rhamnose donor, which provides complete α-selectivity. However, TBDPS protected rhamnosyl donors are found to be superior protecting groups for α-stereoselective O-glycosylation reactions with various acceptors. The observed results are found consistent across donors and donor activation conditions. Most importantly, the study was conducted at room temperature unlike the other energy-intensive low-temperature studies and was bound to have more practical utility. The outcomes have been explained using kinetic and thermodynamic analyses.

Recent Advances in Stereoselective Chemical O-Glycosylation Reactions

Carbohydrates involving glycoconjugates play a pivotal role in many life processes. Better understanding toward glycobiological events including the structure–function relationship of these biomolecules and for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes including tailor-made vaccine development and synthesis of structurally well-defined oligosaccharides (OS) become important. Efficient chemical glycosylation in high yield and stereoselectivity is however challenging and depends on the fine tuning of a protection profile to get matching glycosyl donor–acceptor reactivity along with proper use of other important external factors like catalyst, solvent, temperature, activator, and additive. So far, many glycosylation methods have been reported including several reviews also. In the present review, we will concentrate our discussion on the recent trend on α- and β-selective glycosylation reactions reported during the past decade.

Glycosyl o-[1-(p-MeO-Phenyl)vinyl]benzoates (PMPVB) as Easily Accessible, Stable, and Reactive Glycosyl Donors for O-, S-, and C-Glycosylations under Brønsted Acid Catalysis

Methods suitable for the synthesis of both O- and S-glycosylations are relatively rare because commonly used promoters like halonium sources or gold catalysts are incompatible with thiols as nucleophiles. Here, we present (p-MeO)phenylvinylbenzoates (PMPVB) as easily accessible, stable, and reactive alkene-based glycosyl donors that can be activated with catalytic amounts of a Brønsted acid. This activation protocol not only allows us to synthesize O-glycosides but also can successfully provide S- and C-linked glycosides. The armed and disarmed donors lead to product formation in 5 min, showcasing the high reactivity of the donors. Competitive experiments show that the PMPVB donors are much more reactive than the corresponding PVB donors even under NIS/TMSOTf conditions, whereas PVB donors are not reactive enough to be efficiently activated under Brønsted acid conditions. The potential of the catalytic glycosylation protocol has also been showcased by synthesizing trisaccharides. The Brønsted acid activation of PMPVB donors also allows access to C-glycosides in a stereoselective fashion. The easy accessibility of the donor aglycon on a multigram scale in just two steps makes the PMPVB donors highly attractive alternatives.

Synthesis of the α-Linked Digitoxose Trisaccharide Fragment of Kijanimicin: An Unexpected Application of Glycosyl Sulfonates

Previously, we demonstrated that glycosyl tosylates are effective for the synthesis of β-glycosides of gluco-configured 2-deoxy sugars. Here, we show the same sulfonate system can be used for the selective synthesis of α-glycosides containing the allo-configured 2-deoxy sugar digitoxose. As with previous work, optimal selectivity is obtained through matching the donor with the appropriate arylsulfonyl chloride promoter. The utility of this method is demonstrated through the synthesis of the α-linked digitoxose trisaccharide fragment of kijanimicin.

Catalytic Stereoselective Synthesis of 2-Deoxy α-glycosides Using Glycosyl Ortho-[1-(p-MeOPhenyl)Vinyl]Benzoates (PMPVB) Donors

2-Deoxy Glycosyl Ortho-[1-(p-MeOPhenyl)Vinyl]Benzoates (PMPVB) donors have been presented as stable, reactive glycosyl donors for the synthesis of 2-deoxy α-glycosides. The donors react under Brønsted acid conditions to provide the 2-deoxy-α-glycosides...

Organocatalysis applied to carbohydrates: from roots to current developments

Organocatalysis emerged in the last decade as a powerful tool for the synthesis of complex molecules. In the field of carbohydrates, it found widespread use in the synthesis of rare and non-natural carbohydrate derivatives. Additionally, it has also found important application in the stereoselective functionalization of the anomeric carbon in glycosylation reactions. These efforts culminated in the development of different types of catalysts operating through distinct activation modes that allow the selective synthesis of α- or β-glycosides even on daunting substrates. All these advances starting from its first examples in carbohydrate synthesis to the current developments in glycosylation reactions are reviewed.

Sterically Strained Brønsted Pair Catalysis by Bulky Pyridinium Salts: Direct Stereoselective Synthesis of 2-Deoxy and 2,6-Dideoxy-β-thioglycosides from Glycals

A sterically strained ionic Brønsted pair complex obtained from a sterically bulky base 2,4,6-tri-tert-butylpyridine and hydrochloric acid imbues unusual reactivity to the anionic chloride. The complete shielding of the cationic [N-H]⁺ by the bulky ortho-tert-butyl groups weakens the possible hydrogen-bonding interactions with the chloride anion, and the [N-H]⁺···Cl^- distance is unusually longer (3.10 Å). This results in strained/frustrated electrostatic interactions between the ion-pair, thus infusing an increased reactivity in both of the ions, which results in the activation of a third molecule like thiol via hydrogen-bonding. This intriguing weak interaction-based reactivity has been utilized to develop an organocatalytic synthesis of 2-deoxy-β-thioglycosides from glycals. While the ¹H NMR studies showcase the diamagnetic activation of thiols in the presence of the catalyst, the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) studies reveal the generation of a radical species that suggests a possible frustrated radical pair catalysis. Besides, IR spectroscopic studies explain the intriguing influence of size/charge density of the anion on the solvation-insusceptible, cationic [TTBPyH]⁺ and on the observed reactivity.

Stereoselective O-Glycosylations by Pyrylium Salt Organocatalysis

Despite many years of invention, the field of carbohydrate chemistry remains rather inaccessible to non-specialists, which limits the scientific impact and reach of the discoveries made in the field. Aiming to increase the availability of stereoselective glycosylation chemistry for non-specialists, we have discovered that several commercially available pyrylium salts catalyze stereoselective O-glycosylations of a wide range of phenols and alkyl alcohols. This catalytic reaction utilizes trichloroacetimidates, an easily accessible and synthetically proven electrophile, takes place under air and only initiates when all three reagents are mixed, which should provide better reproducibility by non-specialists. The reaction exhibits varying degrees of stereospecificity, resulting in β-selective glycosylations from α-trichloroacetimidates, whilst an α-selective glycosylation proceeds from β-trichloroacetimidates. A mechanistic study revealed that the reaction likely proceeds via an S_N 2-like substitution on the protonated electrophile.

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.

Influence of Anion-Binding Schreiner's Thiourea on DMAP Salts: Synergistic Catalysis toward the Stereoselective Dehydrative Glycosylation from 2-Deoxyhemiacetals

Amines are used as additives to facilitate or increase the host-guest chemistry between the thiourea and the anions of Bronsted acids. However, we here demonstrate, for the first time, the synergistic effect of the combination of DMAP/HCl/Schreiner's thiourea in catalyzing dehydrative glycosylation. The variations in the electronic effects of the cationic Bronsted acid part (the protonated DMAP) in the presence of chloride binding Schreiner's thiourea have been discussed using NMR and X-ray crystallographic techniques.

A robust and tunable halogen bond organocatalyzed 2-deoxyglycosylation involving quantum tunneling

The development of noncovalent halogen bonding (XB) catalysis is rapidly gaining traction, as isolated reports documented better performance than the well-established hydrogen bonding thiourea catalysis. However, convincing cases allowing XB activation to be competitive in challenging bond formations are lacking. Herein, we report a robust XB catalyzed 2-deoxyglycosylation, featuring a biomimetic reaction network indicative of dynamic XB activation. Benchmarking studies uncovered an improved substrate tolerance compared to thiourea-catalyzed protocols. Kinetic investigations reveal an autoinductive sigmoidal kinetic profile, supporting an in situ amplification of a XB dependent active catalytic species. Kinetic isotopic effect measurements further support quantum tunneling in the rate determining step. Furthermore, we demonstrate XB catalysis tunability via a halogen swapping strategy, facilitating 2-deoxyribosylations of D-ribals. This protocol showcases the clear emergence of XB catalysis as a versatile activation mode in noncovalent organocatalysis, and as an important addition to the catalytic toolbox of chemical glycosylations.

Halogen bonding (HB) catalysis is rapidly gaining momentum, however, cases of XB activation for challenging bonds formation are rare. Here, the authors show a robust XB catalyzed 2-deoxyglycosylation with broad scope and featuring a quantum tunneling phenomenon in the proton transfer rate determining step.