Angewandte
Chemie
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201209697
Carbohydrate Mimics
Flexible Synthesis of 2-Deoxy-C-Glycosides and (1!2)-, (1!3)-, and
(1!4)-Linked C-Glycosides**
Dennis C. Koester, Ella Kriemen, and Daniel B. Werz*
C-Glycosides are an important class of carbohydrate
mimics.[1] In these compounds the monosaccharide units are
linked by a methylene unit instead of an oxygen atom,
rendering the disaccharide highly stable towards enzymatic
and chemical hydrolysis. The conformational differences
between C- and O-glycosides have been the subject of
debate in the recent past because of the absence of exo and
endo anomeric effects in C-glycosides; however, a general
conclusion cannot be drawn to date.[2] The difficulties
associated with the synthesis of a C-glycosidic bond between
two monosaccharide moieties are readily apparent. Several
groups have addressed the synthesis of such structures in the
past decade.[3] Typically, methods have been developed only
for specific linkages[4,5] or have required elaborate building
blocks. Thus, a modular and robust approach for the synthesis
of a variety of different C-glycosidic linkages would be of high
synthetic and biochemical interest. Recently, we reported
a Sonogashira reaction to promote the synthesis of a- and b-
linked (1!6)-C-disaccharides.[3a] Herein we focus on the
preparation of more challenging C-glycosidic bonds and
present a strategy to build a- and b-linked (1!2)-, (1!3)-,
and (1!4)-C-disaccharides.
Our approach relies on the use of two monosaccharide
units. Starting from 1-stannylglucal 1 and exocyclic bromo-
olefins 2, a Stille cross-coupling would generate pseudo-
disaccharides 3 bearing a diene subunit (Scheme 1). The diene
subunit consisting of an endocyclic electron-rich and an
exocyclic less-electron-rich double bond sets the stage for
Scheme 1. Modular approach for the synthesis of 2-deoxy-C-glycosides
and (1!2)-, (1!3)-, and (1!4)-linked C-disaccharides.
several functionalization reactions. A global reduction leads
to (1!n)-linked 2-deoxy-C-glycosides of type 4, whilst an
oxidative–reductive functionalization of the endocyclic enol
ether would regenerate the native hydroxy group pattern of
the monosaccharide unit A (generation of 5). A further
reduction of the remaining exocyclic double bond forms the
methylene bridge between the two monosaccharide units and
completes the sequence. In the case of the (1!n)-linked
2-deoxy-C-glycosides 4 two stereocenters are generated. In
the synthesis of C-disaccharides 6 from dienes 3 three
stereocenters are installed, making the approach relatively
flexible in establishing the stereochemical configuration at
these centers.
1-Stannylglycals of type 1 are readily synthesized accord-
ing to established methods.[6] Exocyclic olefins 2 were
generated from the corresponding ketones by a Wittig-type
reaction using the phosphorus ylide Ph3PCHBr. However, the
bromo-substituted double bond in position 2 of the mono-
saccharide was preferentially obtained by means of a halo-
cyclopropanation of the respective glycals followed by the
opening of the three-membered ring.[7,8]
The subunits 1 and 2 were cross-coupled under standard
Stille conditions (Scheme 2).[9] As carbohydrate building
blocks, glucose-, galactose-, mannose-, and allose-based
systems were employed. Despite steric hindrance pseudo-
disaccharides 3 were synthesized in good yields ranging from
63% to 88%. The galactose- and mannose-based building
[*] Dipl.-Chem. D. C. Koester, M. Sc. E. Kriemen,
Priv.-Doz. Dr. D. B. Werz
Institut fꢀr Organische und Biomolekulare Chemie
Georg-August-Universitꢁt Gçttingen
Tammannstrasse 2, 37077 Gçttingen (Germany)
E-mail: dwerz@gwdg.de
[**] This work was supported by the German Research Foundation
(DFG) and the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie (Emmy Noether
Fellowship and Dozentenstipendium to D.B.W., Fonds-Doktoran-
denstipendium to D.C.K.). We thank Prof. Dr. Lutz F. Tietze for
generous support of our work.
Supporting information for this article is available on the WWW
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2013, 52, 2985 –2989
ꢀ 2013 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
2985