Journal
SCIENCE
Volume 355, Issue 6321, Pages 162-+Publisher
AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1126/science.aal1875
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Funding
- NIH [GM116249, GM43214]
- NSF
- Dreyfus Foundation
- Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
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Carbohydrates are involved in nearly all aspects of biochemistry, but their complex chemical structures present long-standing practical challenges to their synthesis. In particular, stereochemical outcomes in glycosylation reactions are highly dependent on the steric and electronic properties of coupling partners; thus, carbohydrate synthesis is not easily predictable. Here we report the discovery of a macrocyclic bis-thiourea derivative that catalyzes stereospecific invertive substitution pathways of glycosyl chlorides. The utility of the catalyst is demonstrated in the synthesis of trans-1,2-, cis-1,2-, and 2-deoxy-beta-glycosides. Mechanistic studies are consistent with a cooperative mechanism in which an electrophile and a nucleophile are simultaneously activated to effect a stereospecific substitution reaction.
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