Copper(I)-Catalyzed Dehydrative C-Glycosidation of Unprotected Pyranoses with Ketones

Photocatalytic Synthesis of α-Ketonyl Glycosyl Compounds from Glycosyl Thiols and Silyl Enol Ethers

The synthesis of C1-ketonyl glycosyl compounds featuring α-selectivity has seldom been reported. We herein devise a glycosyl radical-based approach to facilely access stereoenriched ketonyl glycosyl compounds via an Ir photoredox-catalyzed desulfurative addition to silyl enol ethers, using in situ-generated tetrafluoropyridinyl thioglycosides from glycosyl 1-thiols as radical precursors. This protocol features readily prepared starting materials, mild conditions, excellent functional group tolerance, satisfactory scale-up, and notable amenability to late-stage modification of pharmaceutically relevant complex molecules.

Catalytic Approaches to Chemo- and Site-Selective Transformation of Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are a fundamental unit playing pivotal roles in all the biological processes. It is thus essential to develop methods for synthesizing, functionalizing, and manipulating carbohydrates for further understanding of their functions and the creation of sugar-based functional materials. It is, however, not trivial to develop such methods, since carbohydrates are densely decorated with polar and similarly reactive hydroxy groups in a stereodefined manner. New approaches to chemo- and site-selective transformations of carbohydrates are, therefore, of great significance for revolutionizing sugar chemistry to enable easier access to sugars of interest. This review begins with a brief overview of the innate reactivity of hydroxy groups of carbohydrates. It is followed by discussions about catalytic approaches to enhance, override, or be orthogonal to the innate reactivity for the transformation of carbohydrates. This review avoids making a list of chemo- and site-selective reactions, but rather focuses on summarizing the concept behind each reported transformation. The literature references were sorted into sections based on the underlying ideas of the catalytic approaches, which we hope will help readers have a better sense of the current state of chemistry and develop innovative ideas for the field.

Mild Cu(OTf)2-Mediated C-Glycosylation with Chelation-Assisted Picolinate as a Leaving Group

C-Glycosylation reactions of glycosyl picolinates with allyltrimethylsilane or silyl enol ethers were developed. Picolinate as a chelation-assisted leaving group could be activated by Cu(OTf)2 and avoided the use of harsh Lewis acids. The glycosylations were operated under mild neutral conditions and gave the corresponding C-glycosides in up to 95% yield with moderate to excellent stereoselectivities.

Divergent Entry to C-Glycosides from Unprotected Sugars

An efficient, divergent, and straightforward access to novel C-glycosides has been developed, namely, α-hydroxy carboxamide and carboxylic acid derivatives, via a green and scalable process from unprotected carbohydrates. The method involves condensation of 1,3-dimethylbarbituric acid with unprotected sugars followed by subsequent barbiturate oxidative cleavage in the same pot. Further expanding of the chemistry led to the development of efficient entries to diastereoisomerically pure C-glycosyl-α-hydroxy esters or amides through nucleophilic attack on a readily available and versatile key lactone intermediate.

Homogeneous Catalysis: A Powerful Technology for the Modification of Important Biomolecules

Homogeneous catalysis plays an important and ubiquitous role in the synthesis of simple and complex molecules, including drug compounds, natural products, and agrochemicals. In recent years, the wide-reaching importance of homogeneous catalysis has made it an indispensable tool for the modification of biomolecules, such as carbohydrates (sugars), amino acids, peptides, nucleosides, nucleotides, and steroids. Such a synthetic strategy offers several advantages, which have led to the development of new molecules of biological relevance at a rapid rate relative to the number of available synthetic methods. Given the powerful nature of homogeneous catalysis in effecting these synthetic transformations, this Focus Review has been compiled to highlight these important developments.

NHC-Catalyzed Hetero-Diels-Alder Reaction of Allenoate with Chalcone: Synthesis of Polysubstituted Pyranyl Carboxylate

An NHC-catalyzed hetero-Diels-Alder and isomerization process of chalcones with allenoates was discovered, which furnished highly functionalized multisubstituted pyranyl carboxylates successfully. This method features a convergent assembly, mild reaction conditions, moderate to good yields, and high atom economy.