Table 1 One-pot glycosidation of altroside7 with donors 11a and 12.
Table 2 One-pot glycosidation of mannoside 16 with donors 10 and 12.
Entry
7 (equiv.) 11a (equiv.) 12 (equiv.) 15a (%) 13a (%)
Entry
16 (equiv.)
10 (equiv.)
12 (equiv.)
17a (%) 21a (%)
i
1
1
1
1
1.3
1
1
1.3
1.6
2
37
43
52
57
37
31
19
16
i
ii
1
1
1
1
1
2
36
27
21
25
ii
iii
iv
a Compound 22 is the only trisaccharide (of four possibilities) observed in
these optimizations.
1
3
a Compound 15 is the only trisaccharide (of four possibilities) observed in
these optimizations.
a repetitive, interlocking motif in high mannose glycopro-
teins.7
The RDAS preferences of 16 were determined by the
previously described equimolar two-component reactions‡
shown in Scheme 2 (a and b). With the disarmed donor 10,
mannosylation occurred at the bold (C6)-OH only to give 17 in
53% yield, and also the symmetrical trisaccharide 18 in 13%
yield—but with no evidence (TLC nor NMR) for the dimannan
resulting from glycosidation of the italic (C3)-OH. By contrast,
the ‘armed’ donor 12 gave a 38% yield of the O6 product, 19,
but also 11% of the O3 regioisomer 20.
Analysis of the results in Scheme 2 (a and b) according to
conventional wisdom, dictates that the preference of both
donors, 10 and 12, for the primary –OH ‘is to be expected’ on
the grounds of steric hindrance, and so in contemplating a
differential, double-glycosidation experiment, the obvious
question was: What will happen when 10 and 12 compete for
diol 16? Our calculations8 showed that the relative reactivity of
these donors (k12/k10) is 3.2. Hence, it was expected that O6
mannosylation by the ‘armed’ donor, 12, would predominate in
any trimannan produced.
Scheme 3
reaction of 10, 16 and 12 (entry i) gave a single trimannan 22,
in which the less reactive donor 10 ended up at O6. But even
more surprisingly, the same held true for the single disaccha-
ride, 17, obtained.As with the altroside study in Scheme 1, an
increase in the ratio of the armed donor 12 (entry ii) led to an
increase (albeit modest) of trisaccharide 21—but still none of
the symmetrical trisaccharide.
In reviewing the above data, we regard it as simply
astonishing that even with the audacious disparity in the ratio of
donors 12 and 11a (Table 1, equation iv) or 12 and 10 (Table 2,
equation ii), there was absolutely no evidence for trisaccharides
other than 15 and 21. In view of the excess of the ‘armed’ donor
12 in these experiments, symmetrical dimannosylation was
expected in both Schemes 1 and 2.
Surprising disagreement with conventional wisdom is de-
picted in Scheme 2(c). Thus the 1+1+1 three-component
A study8 of the three types of n-pentenyl donors used above
indicate that their relative reactivities are in the order NPOE >
armed > disarmed (e.g. 11 > 12 > 10). The most and least
stable donors therefore give rise to the highly delocalised, more
stable intermediate 22, while the armed donor gives the less
stable oxocarbenium ion 239 (Scheme 3). The conclusion from
Scheme 1(c) and Scheme 2(c) is that in competitive glycosida-
tions, the more stable donor/intermediate (not the most reactive
donor) controls regioselectivity, resulting in the formation of
the single trisaccharides 15 and 21 and the single disaccharides
13a and 17. How the competing OH groups play into this
phenomenal regioselectivity awaits clarification.
B. F. R. is grateful to the Human Frontier Science Program
Organization and Synthon Chiragenics of Monmouth Junction,
NJ, USA for partial support of this work. Funding from the
DGICYT (grants: PPQ2000-1330, and BQU2001-0582).
Notes and references
† The regioselectivities are the same whether the NPOE or NPGBZ is used,
although yields and side-products may differ.
‡ The structure of the regioisomers was determined, as previously
described.4
1 H. M. I. Osborn and T.H. Khan, Oligosaccharides. Their synthesis and
biological roles, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2000, ch. 3.
2 H. Paulsen, Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. Engl., 1982, 21, 152.
3 C-H. Wong, R. L. Halcomb, Y. Ichikawa and T. Kajimoto, Angew.
Chem., Int. Ed. Engl., 1995, 34, 521; S. David, C. Auge and C.
Gautheron, Adv. Carbohydr. Chem. Biochem., 1991, 49, 176.
4 B. Fraser-Reid, J. C. Lopez, K. V. Radhakrishnan, M. Mach, U.
Schlueter, A. M. Gomez and C. Uriel, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2002, 124,
3198.
5 G. Anilkumar, L. G. Nair and B. Fraser-Reid, Org. Lett., 2000, 2,
2587.
6 B. Fraser-Reid, J. C. Lopez, K. V. Radhakrishnan, M. Mach, U.
Schlueter, A. M. Gomez and C. Uriel, Can. J. Chem., in press.
7 J. Montruiel, Adv. Carbohydr. Chem. Biochem., 1980, 37, 157.
8 B. G. Wilson and B. Fraser-Reid, J. Org. Chem., 1995, 60, 317.
9 With S. Grimme and M. Piacenza, unpublished results.
Scheme 2 Glycosidation of mannoside 16 with donors 10 and 12.
CHEM. COMMUN., 2002, 2104–2105
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