2,3-Anhydrosugars in Glycoside Bond Synthesis: Mechanism of 2-Deoxy-2-thioaryl Glycoside Formation

Stereoselective Electro-2-deoxyglycosylation from Glycals

We report a novel and highly stereoselective electro-2-deoxyglycosylation from glycals. This method features excellent stereoselectivity, scope, and functional-group tolerance. This process can also be applied to the modification of a wide range of natural products and drugs. Furthermore, a scalable synthesis of glycosylated podophyllotoxin and a one-pot trisaccharide synthesis through iterative electroglycosylations were achieved.

Impact of Aromatic Stacking on Glycoside Reactivity: Balancing CH/π and Cation/π Interactions for the Stabilization of Glycosyl-Oxocarbenium Ions

Carbohydrate/aromatic stacking represents a recurring key motif for the molecular recognition of glycosides, either by protein binding domains, enzymes, or synthetic receptors. Interestingly, it has been proposed that aromatic residues might also assist in the formation/cleavage of glycosidic bonds by stabilizing positively charged oxocarbenium-like intermediates/transition states through cation/π interactions. While the significance of aromatic stacking on glycoside recognition is well stablished, its impact on the reactivity of glycosyl donors is yet to be explored. Herein, we report the first experimental study on this relevant topic. Our strategy is based on the design, synthesis, and reactivity evaluation of a large number of model systems, comprising a wide range of glycosidic donor/aromatic complexes. Different stacking geometries and dynamic features, anomeric leaving groups, sugar configurations, and reaction conditions have been explicitly considered. The obtained results underline the opposing influence exerted by van der Waals and Coulombic forces on the reactivity of the carbohydrate/aromatic complex: depending on the outcome of this balance, aromatic platforms can indeed exert a variety of effects, stretching from reaction inhibition all the way to rate enhancements. Although aromatic/glycosyl cation contacts are highly dynamic, the conclusions of our study suggest that aromatic assistance to glycosylation processes must indeed be feasible, with far reaching implications for enzyme engineering and organocatalysis.

The Experimental Evidence in Support of Glycosylation Mechanisms at the SN1-SN2 Interface

A critical review of the state-of-the-art evidence in support of the mechanisms of glycosylation reactions is provided. Factors affecting the stability of putative oxocarbenium ions as intermediates at the SN1 end of the mechanistic continuum are first surveyed before the evidence, spectroscopic and indirect, for the existence of such species on the time scale of glycosylation reactions is presented. Current models for diastereoselectivity in nucleophilic attack on oxocarbenium ions are then described. Evidence in support of the intermediacy of activated covalent glycosyl donors is reviewed, before the influences of the structure of the nucleophile, of the solvent, of temperature, and of donor-acceptor hydrogen bonding on the mechanism of glycosylation reactions are surveyed. Studies on the kinetics of glycosylation reactions and the use of kinetic isotope effects for the determination of transition-state structure are presented, before computational models are finally surveyed. The review concludes with a critical appraisal of the state of the art.

Highly reactive 2-deoxy-2-iodo-d-allo and d-gulo pyranosyl sulfoxide donors ensure β-stereoselective glycosylations with steroidal aglycones

The preparation of well-defined d-xylo and d-ribo glycosides represents a synthetic challenge due to the limited configurational availability of starting materials and the laborious synthesis of homogeneous 2-deoxy-β-glycosidic linkages, in particular that of the sugar-steroid motif, which represents the "stereoselective determining step" of the overall synthesis. Herein we describe the use of 2-deoxy-2-iodo-glycopyranosyl sulfoxides accessible from widely available d-xylose and d-ribose monosaccharides as privileged glycosyl donors that permit activation at very low temperature. This ensures a precise kinetic control for a complete 1,2-trans stereoselective glycosylation of particularly challenging steroidal aglycones.

Efficient synthesis of a linear octyl pentaarabinofuranoside, a substrate for mycobacterial EmbA/EmbB proteins

The efficient synthesis of a linear pentasaccharide with the structure 1, β-D-Araf-(1 → 2)-α-D-Araf-(1 → 5)-α-D-Araf-(1 → 5)-α-D-Araf-(1 → 5)-α-D-Araf-(1 → 5), as its octyl glycoside has been achieved through a convergent [3 + 2] coupling strategy. The difficult-to-obtain 1,2-cis-β-arabinofuranosidic bond at the non-reducing end of the target molecule was stereoselectively constructed by the use of a 2-quinolinecarbonyl-directed 1,2-cis glycosylation method.

A facile method for the synthesis of fused perhydropyrano[2,3-b]pyrans promoted by Yb(OTf)3

A stereospecific three-component domino reaction between glycals, alkylidene malonate and aldehydes catalyzed by Yb(OTf)3 is described. Multi-substituted cis-fused perhydropyrano[2,3-b]pyran derivatives were obtained with high diastereoselectivity.

Cascade N-Alkylation/Hemiacetalization for Facile Construction of the Spiroketal Skeleton of Acortatarin Alkaloids with Therapeutic Potentiality in Diabetic Nephropathy

The concise building of the spiroketal core of acortatarin-type alkaloids as potential therapeutic agents in diabetic nephropathy was established in four steps, through a tandem N-alkylation/hemiacetalization between pyrrole units and the corresponding halo alcohols generated by convenient halomethylation of chiral lactones from natural aldoses.

Organoboron-catalyzed regio- and stereoselective formation of β-2-deoxyglycosidic linkages

A borinic acid derived catalyst enables regioselective and β-selective reactions of 2-deoxy- and 2,6-dideoxyglycosyl chloride donors with pyranoside-derived acceptors having unprotected cis-1,2- and 1,3-diol groups. The use of catalysis to promote a β-selective pathway by enhancement of acceptor nucleophilicity constitutes a distinct approach from previous work, which has been aimed at modulating donor reactivity by variation of protective and/or leaving groups.

Stereospecific [3+2] cycloaddition of 1,2-cyclopropanated sugars and ketones catalyzed by SnCl4: an efficient synthesis of multi-substituted perhydrofuro[2,3-b]furans and perhydrofuro[2,3-b]pyrans

An efficient stereospecific [3+2] cycloaddition of 1,2-cyclopropanated sugars and ketones catalyzed by SnCl₄ is described.

Synthesis of 2-deoxy-C-glycosides via Lewis acid-mediated rearrangement of 2,3-anhydro-1-thiopyranosides

The regio- and stereo-selective construction of 2-deoxy-C-glycosides via Lewis acid-mediated rearrangement of 2,3-anhydro-1-thiopyranosides is realized.

β-Arabinofuranosylation using 5-O-(2-quinolinecarbonyl) substituted ethyl thioglycoside donors

A new β-stereoselective D- and L-arabinofuranosylation method has been developed employing 5-O-(2-quinolinecarbonyl) substituted arabinosyl ethyl thioglycosides as glycosyl donors. The approach allows a wide range of acceptor substrates to be used; the β-selectivity is good-to-excellent. Stereoselective synthesis of a mannose-capped octasaccharide portion from a mycobacterial cell wall polysaccharide was then carried out to demonstrate the utility of this methodology.

Automated solid phase synthesis of oligoarabinofuranosides

Automated solid phase synthesis enables rapid access to the linear and branched arabinofuranoside oligosaccharides. A simple purification step is sufficient to provide the conjugation ready oligosaccharides in good yield.

Do glycosyl sulfonium ions engage in neighbouring-group participation? A study of oxathiane glycosyl donors and the basis for their stereoselectivity

Neighbouring-group participation has long been used to control the synthesis of 1,2-trans-glycosides. More recently there has been a growing interest in the development of similar strategies for the synthesis of 1,2-cis-glycosides, in particular the use of auxiliary groups that generate sulfonium ion intermediates. However, there has been some debate over the role of sulfonium ion intermediates in these reactions: do sulfonium ions actually engage in neighbouring-group participation, or are they a resting state of the system prior to reaction through an oxacarbenium ion intermediate? Herein, we describe the reactivities and stereoselectivities of a family of bicyclic thioglycosides in which an oxathiane ring is fused to the sugar to form a trans-decalin-like structure. A methyl sulfonium ion derived from one such glycosyl donor is so stable that it can be crystallised from ethanol, yet it reacts with complete stereoselectivity at high temperature. The importance of a ketal group in the oxathiane ring for maintaining this high stereoselectivity is investigated using a combination of experiment and ab initio calculations. The data are discussed in terms of S(N)1 and S(N)2 type mechanisms. Trends in stereoselectivity across a series of compounds are more consistent with selective addition to oxacarbenium ions rather than a shift between S(N)1 and S(N)2 mechanisms.

Stereoelectronic effects determine oxacarbenium vs β-sulfonium ion mediated glycosylations

Activation of a glycosyl donor protected with a 2-O-(S)-(phenylthiomethyl)benzyl ether chiral auxiliary results in the formation of an anomeric β-sulfonium ion, which can be displaced with sugar alcohols to give corresponding α-glycosides. Sufficient deactivation of such glycosyl donors by electron-withdrawing protecting groups is, however, critical to avoid glycosylation of an oxacarbenium ion intermediate. The latter type of glycosylation pathway can also be suppressed by installing additional substituents in the chiral auxiliary.

Theoretical study of 1,6-anhydrosugar formation from phenyl D-glucosides under basic condition: reasons for higher reactivity of β-anomer

Degradation of anomeric phenyl d-glucosides to levoglucosan under basic condition is theoretically studied. MP4(SDQ)//DFT(B3LYP)-computational results indicate that the degradation of phenyl α-glucoside (R(α)) occurs via the S(N)icB mechanism. In this mechanism, the oxyanion at the C6, which is formed through deprotonation of the OH group, directly attacks the anomeric carbon. On the other hand, the degradation of phenyl β-glucoside (R(β)) occurs via the S(N)icB(2) mechanism. In this mechanism, the oxyanion at the C2 attacks the anomeric carbon in a nucleophilic manner to afford 1,2-anhydride intermediate and then the oxyanion at the C6 attacks the anomeric carbon to afford levoglucosan. The activation barrier is much lower in the reaction of R(β) (ΔG(0++) = 25.6 kcal/mol and E(a) = 26.5 kcal/mol) than in the reaction of R(α) (ΔG(0++) = 38.1 kcal/mol and E(a) = 37.2 kcal/mol), which is consistent with the experimental observation that β-glucoside is generally much more reactive than the corresponding α-glucoside. The lower activation barrier of the reaction of R(β) arises from the stereoelectronic effect, which is induced by the charge transfer from the ring oxygen to the anomeric carbon, and the staggered conformation around the C1-C2 bond. When the stereoelectronic effect is absent, the degradation needs larger activation energy; for instance, the degradation of phenyl 5a-carba-β-d-glucoside (R(Cβ)) occurs with large ΔG(0++) and E(a) values like those of α-glucosides, because the methylene group of R(Cβ) does not contribute to the stereoelectronic effect. Also, the conformation around the C1-C2 bond is staggered in the transition state of the R(β) reaction but eclipsed in that of the R(α) reaction, which also leads to the larger reactivity of R(β).