Practical aqueous reactions leading to skeletally diverse carbohydrate-derived ketones

Abstract

Four types of skeletally diverse compounds have been synthesized from protected aldosyl hemiacetals and methyl ketones using cheap catalysts in water in one pot. Among the four skeletons, two of them are not accessible by current methods. The reactions are operationally simple, high yielding and scalable, which opens a practical channel for utilizing carbohydrates to produce chemical and pharmaceutical intermediates and products.