Carbohydrates Esterification

III. Reagent-Dependent Regioselective Control in Multiple Carbohydrate Esterifications... 

Figure 12. Example of organotin-mediated mnltiple carbohydrate esterification.

It has been demonstrated that organotin-mediated multiple carbohydrate esterifications can be controlled by the acytaring reagent and the solvent polarity. When acetyl chloride is used, the reactions are under thermodynamic control, whereas when acetic anhydride is employed, kinetic control takes place. Very good selectivity can furthermore be obtained in more polar solvents. These results can be used in the efficient preparation of prototype carbohydrate structures. 

Based on the efficient multiple carbohydrate esterifications and Lattrell-Dax carbohydrate epimerization, novel and convenient double parallel- and double serial inversion methods have been developed, by which methyl p-D-mannosides and methyl P-D-talosides have been efficiently synthesized in very high yields at very mild conditions in few steps. The results also indicate that an ester group can, either in parallel or serially, induce its two neighboring groups in the epimerization reacriom... 

Esterification. The hydroxyl groups of sugars can react with organic and inorganic acids just as other alcohols do. Both natural and synthetic carbohydrate esters are important in various apphcations (1,13). Phosphate monoesters of sugars are important in metabohc reactions. An example is the enzyme-catalyzed, reversible aldol addition between dibydroxyacetone phosphate [57-04-51 and D-ylyceraldehyde 3-phosphate [591-57-1 / to form D-fmctose 1,6-bisphosphate [488-69-7],... 

Acylation (Section 25.22) Esterification of the available hydroxyl groups occurs when carbohydrates are treated with acylating agents. 

Esterification is normally carried out by treating the carbohydrate with an acid chloride or acid anhydride in the presence of a base (Sections 21.4 and 21.5). All the —OH groups react, including the anomeric one. For example, /3-o-glucopyranose is converted into its pentaacetate by treatment with acetic anhydride in pyridine solution. 

Another potential site of reactivity for anhydrides in protein molecules is modification of any attached carbohydrate chains. In addition to amino group modification in the polypeptide chain, glycoproteins may be modified at their polysaccharide hydroxyl groups to form ester derivatives. Esterification of carbohydrates by acetic anhydride, especially cellulose, is a major industrial application for this compound. In aqueous solutions, however, esterification may be a minor product, since the oxygen of water is about as strong a nucleophile as the hydroxyls of sugar residues. 

The common methods of esterification utilize an acid chloride or an acid anhydride as the reagent, but other acid derivatives often show different selectivities, and these are also considered here. In view of the extensive articles on sulfonic esters of carbohydrates,2 4... 

Selective esterification, particularly p-toluenesulfonylation and methanesulfonylation, of one, or two, of several hydroxyl groups in carbohydrate molecules is an important reaction for constitutional and configurational alterations. 

One of the consequences of forming a cyclic hemi-acetal or hemiketal is that the nucleophilic hydroxyl adds to the carbonyl group and forms a new hydroxyl. This new group is susceptible to many normal chemical reactions of hydroxyls, e.g. esterification, and this type of reaction effectively freezes the carbohydrate into one anomeric form, since the ringopening and equilibration can now no longer take place. Consider esterification of glucose with acetic anhydride (see Section 7.9.1). P-o-Glucose will be... 

Abstract Polyfunctionality of carbohydrates and their low solubility in conventional organic solvents make rather complex their conversion to higher value added chemicals. Therefore, innovative processes are now strongly needed in order to increase the selectivity of these reactions. Here, we report an overview of the different heterogeneously-catalyzed processes described in the literature. In particular, hydrolysis, dehydration, oxidation, esterification, and etherification of carbohydrates are presented. We shall discuss the main structural parameters that need to be controlled and that permit the conversion of carbohydrates to bioproducts with good selectivity. The conversion of monosaccharides and disaccharides over solid catalysts, as well as recent advances in the heterogeneously-catalyzed conversion of cellulose, will be presented. 

Here we report an overview of the different heterogeneously-catalyzed pathways designed for the selective conversion of carbohydrates. On the basis of these results, we shall try to determine the key parameters allowing a better control of the reaction selectivity. Water being commonly used as solvent in carbohydrate chemistry, we will also discuss the stability of solid catalysts in the aqueous phase. In this review, heterogeneously-catalyzed hydrolysis, dehydration, oxidation, esterification, and etherification of monosaccharides and polysaccharides are reported. 

Esterification of carbohydrates with fatty esters is an important reaction that provides an important class of safer non-ionic surfactants. These biodegradable surfactants are widely used in the detergent, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, and food industries [124-127]. 

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