New Developments in the Use of Carbohydrates as Chiral Synthons

Abstract

This thesis describes novel applications of carbohydrate starting materials in the preparation of chiral synthons as well as various compounds of biological interest. In Chapter 1, a synthesis of carbocyclic sugars from carbohydrate-derived dialdehydes using organocatalysis has been developed. Carbocyclic sugars are a common motif present in many natural products of synthetic interest including pancratistatin and aminocyclitol antibiotics and this chapter presents a new method for the construction of protected inososes from alditols which may serve as a platform for more complex syntheses.