Convenient methods for the synthesis of ferrocene-carbohydrate conjugates

We report two methods for the attachment of mono- and disaccharides to one or both of the cyclopentadienyl rings in ferrocene. The first strategy involves the reaction in acidic media of thioglycosides with ferrocenemethanol or 1,1'-ferrocenedimethanol. The second method consists of the regiospecific catalytic cycloaddition of propargyl glycoside and azidomethyl and bis(azidomethyl)ferrocene leading to the 1,2,3-triazole derivatives. The inverse strategy was also explored. The electrochemical behavior of the synthesized ferrocene-containing glycoconjugates was investigated.