Synthesis and Glycosidation of Anomeric Halides: Evolution from Early Studies to Modern Methods of the 21st Century

Advances in synthetic carbohydrate chemistry have dramatically improved access to common glycans. However, many novel methods still fail to adequately address challenges associated with chemical glycosylation and glycan synthesis. Since a challenge of glycosylation has remained, scientists have been frequently returning to the traditional glycosyl donors. This review is dedicated to glycosyl halides that have played crucial roles in shaping the field of glycosciences and continue to pave the way toward our understanding of chemical glycosylation.

1H NMR Studies of Intramolecular OH/OH Hydrogen Bonds via Titratable Isotope Shifts

Methanol titrations of partially deuterated 1,4- and 1,3-diols dissolved in nonpolar solvents such as CD₂Cl₂ and benzene-d₆ have provided ¹H NMR measurements of OH/OD isotope shifts, diagnostic for intact intramolecular hydrogen bonds, under conditions of increasing protic solvent concentration. 1,4- and 1,3-diols with conformationally favored intramolecular OH/OH hydrogen bonds can be titrated to constant isotope shift values, albeit with variable sign, in the presence of excess methanol equivalents, providing evidence for intact intramolecular hydrogen bonds under these conditions. Conversely, the isotope shift in a 1,3-diol with a conformationally labile intramolecular hydrogen bond titrated to zero when in the presence of excess equivalents methanol, consistent with intramolecular hydrogen bond rupture under these conditions. Additionally, the titration behavior of hydroxyl chemical shifts in diols and protected derivatives has revealed significant OH/OD isotope shifts in the absence of chemical shift differences (δOH_in = δOH_out) that are necessary for an equilibrium isotope effect, lending evidence for an intrinsic contribution to the isotope effect. OH/OD isotope shift titration thus provides a means for understanding the origins of these isotope effects and for probing the intact or nonintact nature of intramolecular OH/OH hydrogen bonds in response to intermolecular hydrogen bonds provided by a protic solvent.

Atom interaction propensities of oxygenated chemical functions in crystal packings

The crystal contacts of several families of hydrocarbon compounds substituted with one or several types of oxygenated chemical groups were analyzed statistically using the Hirshfeld surface methodology. The propensity of contacts to occur between two chemical types is described with the contact enrichment descriptor. The systematic large enrichment ratios of some interactions like the O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds suggests that these contacts are a driving force in the crystal packing formation. The same statement holds for the weaker C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds in ethers, esters and ketones, in the absence of polar H atoms. The over-represented contacts in crystals of oxygenated hydrocarbons are generally of two types: electrostatic attractions (hydrogen bonds) and hydrophobic interactions. While Cl⋯O interactions are generally avoided, in a minority of chloro-oxygenated hydrocarbons, significant halogen bonding does occur. General tendencies can often be derived for many contact types, but outlier compounds are instructive as they display peculiar or rare features. The methodology also allows the detection of outliers which can be structures with errors. For instance, a significant number of hydroxylated molecules displaying over-represented non-favorable oxygen-oxygen contacts turned out to have wrongly oriented hydroxyl groups. Beyond crystal packings with a single molecule in the asymmetric unit, the behavior of water in monohydrate compounds and of crystals with Z' = 2 (dimers) are also investigated. It was found in several cases that, in the presence of several oxygenated chemical groups, cross-interactions between different chemical groups (e.g. water/alcohols; alcohols/phenols) are often favored in the crystal packings. While some trends in accordance with common chemical principles are retrieved, some unexpected results can however appear. For example, in crystals of alcohol-phenol compounds, the strong O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds between two phenol groups turn out to be extremely rare, while cross contacts between phenols and alcohols have enriched occurrences.

Aqueous Glycosylation of Unprotected Sucrose Employing Glycosyl Fluorides in the Presence of Calcium Ion and Trimethylamine

We report a synthetic glycosylation reaction between sucrosyl acceptors and glycosyl fluoride donors to yield the derived trisaccharides. This reaction proceeds at room temperature in an aqueous solvent mixture. Calcium salts and a tertiary amine base promote the reaction with high site-selectivity for either the 3'-position or 1'-position of the fructofuranoside unit. Because nonenzymatic aqueous oligosaccharide syntheses are underdeveloped, mechanistic studies were carried out in order to identify the origin of the selectivity, which we hypothesized was related to the structure of the hydroxyl group array in sucrose. The solution conformation of various monodeoxysucrose analogs revealed the co-operative nature of the hydroxyl groups in mediating both this aqueous glycosyl bond-forming reaction and the site-selectivity at the same time.

Spiro annulation of cage polycycles via Grignard reaction and ring-closing metathesis as key steps

A simple synthetic strategy to C₂-symmetric bis-spiro-pyrano cage compound 7 involving ring-closing metathesis is reported. The hexacyclic dione 10 was prepared from simple and readily available starting materials such as 1,4-naphthoquinone and cyclopentadiene. The synthesis of an unprecedented octacyclic cage compound through intramolecular Diels–Alder (DA) reaction as a key step is described. The structures of three new cage compounds 7, 12 and 18 were confirmed by single crystal X-ray diffraction studies.

1H NMR spectra of butane-1,4-diol and other 1,4-diols: DFT calculation of shifts and coupling constants

The proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra of butane-1,4-diol, pentane-1,4-diol, (S,S)-hexane-2,5-diol, 2,5-dimethylhexane-2,5-diol and cyclohexane-1,4-diols (cis and trans) in benzene and some other solvents have been analysed. The conformer distribution and the NMR shifts of these diols in benzene have been computed on the basis of the density functional theory, the solvent being included by means of the integral-equation-formalism polarizable continuum model implemented in Gaussian 09. Relative Gibbs energies of all conformers are calculated at the Perdew, Burke and Ernzerhof (PBE)0/6-311+G(d,p) level and NMR shifts by the gauge-including atomic orbital method with the PBE0/6-311+G(d,p) geometry and the cc-pVTZ basis set. Vicinal three-bond coupling constants for the acyclic diols are calculated from the relative conformer populations, the geometries and generalized Karplus equations developed by Altona's group; these correlate well with the experimental values. The solvent dependence of coupling constants for butane-1,4-diol is attributed to conformational change. Coupling constants for the rigid cyclohexane-1,4-diols do not change with solvent and are readily explained in terms of their geometries. The NMR shifts of hydrogen-bonded protons in individual conformers of alkane-1,n-diols show a very rough correlation with the OH · · · OH distances. The computed overall NMR shifts for CH protons in 1,2-diols, 1,3-diols and 1,4-diols are systematically high but correlate very well with the experimental values, with a gradient of 1.07 ± 0.01; those for OH protons correlate less well.

1H NMR spectra of alkane-1,3-diols in benzene: GIAO/DFT shift calculations

The proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra of propane-1,3-diol, 2-methylpropane-1,3-diol, 2,2-dimethylpropane-1,3-diol, butane-1,3-diol, 3-methylbutane-1,3-diol, pentane-2,4-diols (dl and meso), 2-methylpentane-2,4-diol and cyclohexane-1,3-diols (cis and trans) in benzene have been analysed. The conformer distribution and the NMR shifts of these diols have been computed on the basis of density functional theory, the solvent being included by means of the integral equation formalism phase continuum model (IEFPCM) implemented in Gaussian 09. Relative Gibbs energies of all conformers are calculated at the Perdew, Burke and Ernzerhof (PBE)0/6-311 + G(d,p) level, and NMR shifts by the gauge-including atomic orbital method with the PBE0/6-311 + G(d,p) geometry and the cc-pVTZ basis set. Vicinal coupling constants for 1,2- and 1,3-diols are rationalised in terms of relative conformer populations and geometries. The NMR shifts of hydrogen-bonded protons in individual conformers of alkane-1,n-diols show a very rough correlation with the OH⋯OH distances. The computed overall NMR shifts for CH protons in 1,2- and 1,3-diols are systematically high but correlate very well with the experimental values, with a gradient of 1.07 ± 0.01. Some values for nonequivalent methylene protons in 1,3-diols are reversed, calculation giving enhanced values for the proton anti to the COH bonds. Errors in the NMR shifts computed for the OH protons of nonsymmetrical diols appear to be related to relative populations of conformers where one or other of the OH groups is the donor. Some results based on the second-order Møller-Plesset approach, the Becke three-parameter Lee-Yang-Parr method and on the IEFPCM solvation model implemented in Gaussian 03 are included.

N,N'-[(8-endo,11-endo-Dihy-droxy-penta-cyclo-[5.4.0.0.0.0]undecane-8,11-di-yl)bis-(methyl-enecarbon-yl)]di-l-phenyl-alanine

The title compound, C₃₃H₃₆N₂O₈, is the first example of a disubstituted peptidic pentacycloundecane (PCU) diol. The structure displays an array of inter- and intra­molecular hydrogen bonding by both amide and alcohol functional groups. This hydrogen-bonding system connects the mol­ecules into a three-dimensional network.

Isotopic perturbation of the conformational equilibrium in methylene-functionalized calixarenes

The 400 MHz 1H NMR spectrum of the tetramethoxycalixarene 2 (possessing hydroxyl groups at the bridges) in commercial acetone-d6 displays five signals (an isotopic multiplet) for a pair of methoxy groups. Inspection of the X-ray structures of 2 and its isomer 3 indicates that in the adopted 1,3-alternate conformation, the methoxy groups intramolecularly hydrogen bonded to neighboring OH groups are oriented "in" (pointing toward the cavity). Upon dissolution of 2 in acetone-d6, none, some, or all of the OH protons exchange with the deuterium atoms present in the residual water of the solvent. Several species (mutually relating as isotopomers and isotopologues) differing in the number and positions of the deuterated hydroxyl groups are possible for 2. In three of these species, the "in"-"out"/"out"-"in" conformational equilibrium of a pair of methoxy groups is nondegenerate. The four external lines of the apparent multiplet are ascribed to a single- and double-isotopic perturbation of the "in"-"out" conformational equilibrium of a pair of methoxy groups. On the basis of the assignment of the signals to the individual species and their statistical distribution, the intensities of the components of the isotopic multiplet obtained at different isotopic enrichments of the hydroxyl groups could be simulated. A sample of 2 55% deuterated at the hydroxyl groups in CDCl3 displayed an isotopic multiplet consisting of nine signals. The isotopic multiplet observed for the OH groups of 2 in acetone-d6 was simulated at different deuteration enrichments.