Reductive cleavage of glycosides with borane complexes in the presence of boron trifluoride etherate

D-Arabinose-based synthesis of homo-C-d4T and homo-C-thymidine

2,3,5-Tri-O-benzyl-D-arabinofuranosyl halides (chloride, bromide) were reacted with AllMgBr, MeMgBr, and VinMgBr to furnish anomeric mixtures of the C-glycosyl products. The factors that influenced the beta/alpha ratio are discussed. The alpha,beta-C-vinyl derivative was transformed into 1-deoxy-1-C-hydroxymethyl-beta- and -alpha-D-arabinofuranoses (2,5-anhydro-D-glucitol and -mannitol, respectively), separable after isopropylidenation step. 2,5-Anhydro-1,3-O-isopropylidene-D-glucitol was converted into 2,5-anhydro-6-O-triphenylmethyl-D-erythro-hex-3,4-enitol and 2,5-anhydro-4,6-di-O-benzoyl-3-deoxy-D-ribo-hexitol, which were coupled with N-3-benzoylthymine under the Mitsunobu conditions to furnish two analogs of nucleosides with a -CH(2)- insert between sugar moieties and thymine.

Reductive cleavage of permethylated polysaccharides with borane-methyl sulfide complex and butyltin trichloride

Several per-O-methylated monosaccharides and polysaccharides were used as models in an attempt to identify more convenient reagents for accomplishing reductive cleavage of glycosidic linkages. Included in the model studies were methyl alpha- and beta-D-glucopyranoside, methyl alpha- and beta-D-mannopyranoside, and methyl alpha- and beta-D-ribofuranoside. These studies led to the identification of a new promoter, butyltin trichloride, for carrying out reductive cleavage when borane-methyl sulfide complex was used as the reducing agent. These reagents were found to accomplish the reductive cleavage of per-O-methylated amylose, cellulose, and pullulan to give only the expected derivatives of 1,5-anhydro-D-glucitol. These reagents also accomplished reductive cleavage of per-O-methylated insulin to give only the expected derivatives of 2,5-anhydro-D-mannitol and 2,5-anhydro-D-glucitol. Reductive cleavage using these reagents is easy to perform, and subsequent acetylation of the products is readily accomplished in situ.