Xin-Shan Ye

Oligosaccharide assembly by one-pot multi-step strategy

Saccharide synthesis is a formidable task for synthetic chemists. Although in recent years many advances have been made in this area, development of more convenient and efficient strategies for oligosaccharide synthesis is still in great demand. This review focuses on one of these new strategies--the one-pot sequential glycosylation approach as a potent tool for oligosaccharide assembly.

Oxidant-Controlled Heck-Type C-Glycosylation of Glycals with Arylboronic Acids: Stereoselective Synthesis of Aryl 2-Deoxy-C-glycosides

Oxidative Heck-type C-glycosylations of glycals with various arylboronic acids using Pd(OAc)(2) as catalyst in the presence of oxidant were developed. The corresponding ketone, enol ether, and enone types of C-glycosides were predictably obtained with benzoquinone (BQ), Cu(OAc)(2)/O(2), and 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-1,4-benzoquinone (DDQ) as oxidants, respectively. This method provides a simple, mild, and stereoselective synthesis of aryl 2-deoxy-C-glycosides.

Highly Direct α-Selective Glycosylations of 3,4-O-Carbonate-Protected 2-Deoxy- and 2,6-Dideoxythioglycosides by Preactivation Protocol

A new efficient pre-activation method for the highly alpha-stereoselective glycosylation of 2-deoxysugars and 2,6-dideoxysugars has been developed using 2-deoxy- and 2,6-dideoxythioglycosides as glycosyl donors. The approach allows a wide range of glycosyl acceptors and donors to be used; the alpha-selectivity is very good to excellent.

A new synthetic access to bicyclic polyhydroxylated alkaloid analogues from pyranosides

A facile, versatile and stereoselective synthesis of bicyclic polyhydroxylated alkaloids as castanospermine analogues is described. The synthetic route started from methyl pyranosides. The key steps involved a high-yielding expeditious one-pot tandem reaction from alkenes to N-substituted delta-lactams. The delta-lactams were stereoselectively vinylated to give the dienes, which were followed by the ring-closing metathesis to produce the cyclized products. The functional group transformations of the resulting bicyclic compounds furnished diverse polyhydroxylated alkaloids in good yields.

Synthetic N-alkylated iminosugars as new potential immunosuppressive agents.

The new emerging immunosuppressive effects displayed by iminosugars have not been much investigated so far. Several new N-alkyl dideoxy iminoalditols were designed and synthesized to explore their immunosuppressive effects. These iminosugars inhibited the proliferation of mouse splenocytes and the secretion of both IFN-γ and IL-4, which are the hallmark cytokines of Th1 and Th2 cells, respectively. Some compounds exerted good inhibitory effects. More importantly, the synthetic iminosugars prolonged the allograft survival in the mouse skin transplantation experiment. Our results provide a lead for further elucidation of the structure-activity relationships and modifications of iminosugars for better immunosuppressive agents.

Total synthesis of mycobacterial arabinogalactan containing 92 monosaccharide units

Carbohydrates are diverse bio-macromolecules with highly complex structures that are involved in numerous biological processes. Well-defined carbohydrates obtained by chemical synthesis are essential to the understanding of their functions. However, synthesis of carbohydrates is greatly hampered by its insufficient efficiency. So far, assembly of long carbohydrate chains remains one of the most challenging tasks for synthetic chemists. Here we describe a highly efficient assembly of a 92-mer polysaccharide by the preactivation-based one-pot glycosylation protocol. Several linear and branched oligosaccharide/polysaccharide fragments ranging from 5-mer to 31-mer in length have been rapidly constructed in one-pot manner, which enables the first total synthesis of a biologically important mycobacterial arabinogalactan through a highly convergent [31+31+30] coupling reaction. Our results show that the preactivation-based one-pot glycosylation protocol may provide access to the construction of long and complicated carbohydrate chains.

Lewis Acids as α-Directing Additives in Glycosylations by Using 2,3-O-Carbonate-Protected Glucose and Galactose Thioglycoside Donors Based on Preactivation Protocol

Catalytic or stoichiometric amounts of Lewis acids were found to be very effective α-directing additives in the stereoselective glycosylations of diverse 2,3-O-carbonate-protected glucose and galactose thioglycoside donors by preactivation protocol. The poor stereoselectivities of 4,6-di-O-acetyl-2,3-O-carbonate protected thioglycoside donors in glycosyl coupling reactions were greatly improved, and excellent α-stereoselectivities were achieved by the addition of 0.2 equiv of BF(3)·OEt(2). On the other hand, the β-selectivities of 4,6-di-O-benzyl-2,3-O-carbonate-protected thioglucoside donor toward glycosylations were reversed completely to the α-selectivities by the use of 1 equiv of SnCl(4), making the stereoselectivity controllable. Furthermore, the poor stereoselectivities of 4,6-di-O-benzyl-2,3-O-carbonate-protected thiogalactoside donor in glycosylations were also improved by using SnCl(4) as additive.

Synthesis of N-substituted iminosugar derivatives and their immunosuppressive activities

Several N-alkyl and hydroxyethyl-substituted iminosugar derivatives, including L-altro and D-galacto epimers, were synthesized and the effects of these synthetic iminosugars on proliferation of mouse splenocytes were evaluated in the MTT assay. The experimental data demonstrated that the N-alkylated D-galacto iminosugars showed better inhibitory activities than L-altro analogues, which might hold potential as immunosuppressive agents.

Ligand-Controlled Monoselective C-Aryl Glycoside Synthesis via Palladium-Catalyzed C–H Functionalization of N-Quinolyl Benzamides with 1-Iodoglycals

A monoselective synthesis of aryl-C-Δ(1,2)-glycosides from 1-iodoglycals via palladium-catalyzed ortho-C-H activation of N-quinolyl benzamides has been developed. An amino acid derivative was used as a crucial ligand to improve the yield and monoselectivity of the coupling reaction. The utility of this protocol was demonstrated by a concise synthesis of key moieties of some natural products.

Stereoselective Koenigs–Knorr Glycosylation Catalyzed by Urea

A stereoselective Koenigs-Knorr glycosylation reaction under the catalysis of urea is described. This method is characterized by urea-mediated hydrogen-bond activation and subsequent glycosylation with glycosyl chlorides or bromides. Excellent yields and high anomeric selectivity can be achieved in most cases. Moreover, the low α-stereoselectivity of glycosylations observed when using perbenzylated glucosyl donors can be greatly improved by the addition of tri-(2,4,6-trimethoxyphenyl)phosphine (TTMPP).