Sugars as Chiral Starting Materials in Enantiospecific Synthesis

2 Carbohydrates as Sources of Carbon Atoms in Total Syntheses 

1 Creation of C-Glycosidic Bonds with Retention of the Anomeric Hydroxyl Group 

Last but not least, the existence of both enantiomeric forms of the same carbohydrate at affordable prices is a major advantage. This is true for most pentoses such as arabinose, xylose, lyxose and even ribose. Given the high stereodiversity of carbohydrates it is quite easy to find the most appropriate starting sugar to ensure a good fit between this raw material and the planned target. Several excellent reviews [3-11], book chapters [12-14] and books [15,16] have been published on these topics. 

Most of the key transformations described here involve carbon-carbon bond formation. Carbohydrate functional group manipulations are a long-standing research area in carbohydrate chemistry often reviewed in specialized books and series. We hope to provide the reader with a set of different chemical modifications of carbohydrate ring systems or acyclic carbohydrates available to devise new synthetic routes to biologically relevant targets. 

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