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2-O-Acyl protected-d-ribo-3-uloses reacted with [(ethoxycarbonyl)methylene]triphenylphosphorane in acetonitrile to afford regio- and stereoselectively 2-(Z)-alkenes in 10-60 min under microwave irradiation. This domino reaction is proposed to proceed via tautomerization of 3-ulose to enol, acyl migration, tautomerization to the 3-O-acyl-2-ulose, and Wittig reaction. Alternatively, in chloroform, regioselective 3-olefination of 2-O-pivaloyl-3-uloses gave (E)-alkenes, key precursors for the miharamycins' bicyclic sugar moiety.

Silicon-based materials, namely zeolites, clays, and silica gel have been widely used in organic synthesis, allowing mild reaction conditions and environmentally friendly methodologies. These heterogeneous catalysts are easy to handle, possess nontoxic and noncorrosive character and offer the possibility of recovery and reuse, thus contributing to clean and sustainable organic transformations. Moreover, they present shape-selective properties and provide stereo- and regiocontrol in chemical reactions. Herein, we survey the most significant applications of silicon-based materials as catalysts in carbohydrate chemistry, to mediate important transformations such as glycosylation, sugar protection and deprotection, and hydrolysis and dehydration. Emphasis is placed on their promising synthetic potential in comparison with conventional catalysts.

The synthesis of purine/triazole 6'-isonucleosides and of glucuronic acid/glucuronamide-derived N-glycosylsulfonohydrazides through efficient and stereo- or regioselective methodologies is described. Their structures were envisaged to mimic nucleosides, sugar phosphates, or nucleotides, and were expected to provide potential inhibitors of therapeutically relevant enzymes, the active sites of which could potentially bind their structural fragments or functional groups. Such enzymes include cholinesterases, carbonic anhydrase II (CA-II) and cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK-2). A (triazolyl)methyl amide-linked disaccharide nucleoside, based on a new prospective structural framework for analogues of nucleoside diphosphate sugars, was synthesized. The synthetic strategies employed unprotected or partially protected carbohydrate derivatives as precursors, including ribose, glucuronic acid, glucuronolactone, and glycopyranosides and relied on stereoselective N-glycosylation, regioselective Mitsunobu coupling and 'click chemistry' approaches. Some 6'-isonucleosides and triazole-containing glycoderivatives displayed moderate selective acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activities. The best inhibitor was an aminomethyltriazole 6'-isonucleoside with a Ki value of 11.9 μM. N-Glucuronylsulfonohydrazide showed good inhibition of CA-II (Ki = 9.5 μM). Molecular docking of the most active compounds into the effected enzymes showed interactions with key amino acid residues for substrate recognition. In addition, the tested compounds did not show toxicity to normal cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Acid zeolites as catalysts offer unique achievements in the carbohydrate field allowing regio- and stereocontrolled reactions, mainly related to their shape-selective properties. Moreover, these materials are environmentally safe and easy to handle, contributing to clean and sustainable procedures in carbohydrate transformations. The scope of this review is to summarize the most significant applications of these heterogeneous catalysts in carbohydrate chemistry, notably in mediating key transformations such as glycosylation, sugar protection and deprotection, hydrolysis and dehydration, highlighting the exciting results that the use of zeolites may provide. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Review: 112 refs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]