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D-Allose and its derivatives play important roles in the field of health care and food nutrition. Pure and well-defined D-allose derivatives can facilitate the elucidation of their structure-activity relationship as an essential step for drug design. The Lattrell-Dax epimerization, refers to the triflate inversion using nitrite reagent, is known as valuable method for the synthesis of rare D-allose derivatives. Here, the influence of protecting group patterns on the transformation efficiency of D-glucose derivatives into synthetically useful D-alloses and D-allosamines via the Lattrell-Dax epimerization was studied. For C3 epimerization of D-glucose derivatives bearing O2-acyl group, an anomeric configuration-dependent acyl migration from O2 to O3 was found. In addition, a neighbouring group participation effect-mediated SN1 nucleophilic substitution of the D-glucosamine bearing C2 trichloroacetamido (TCA) group in the Lattrell-Dax epimerization was dependent upon anomeric configuration. Thus, the effect of anomeric configuration on the Lattrell-Dax epimerization of D-glucose suggests that β-D-glucosides with low steric hindrance at C2 should be better substrates for the synthesis of D-allose derivatives. Significantly, the efficient synthesis of the orthogonally protected D-allose 13 and D-allosamine 18 will serve well for further assembly of complex glycans.

Ribose-5-phosphate isomerase B is of great importance for biocatalysis and biosynthesis, but the multifunctional residues in active sites hinder the research efforts. This study employed rational design strategies to locate the key residues of RpiB from Ochrobactrum sp. CSL1 (OsRpiB). A single-mutant S9T of a noncontact residue showed 80% activity improvement toward d-allose. A double-mutant S98H/S134H further increased the activity to 3.6-fold. The mutations were analyzed by kinetics and molecular dynamics analyses, indicating that S9T might enhance the substrate binding and catalysis by inducing a steric effect, and S98H/S134H could strengthen both ring opening and binding of d-allose. Though S98H/S134H showed low temperature stability, its potential was explored by isomerizing d-allose to d-psicose with higher conversion and in less reaction time. The findings of this study were beneficial for illustrating the complex functions of key residues in RpiBs and applying OsRpiB in preparing rare sugars.

Oxazolidinones are an important class of heterocyclic compounds that are used as chiral auxiliaries in asymmetric synthesis and as biologically active pharmaceutical agents. Moreover, carbohydrates are ideal scaffolds to generate libraries of bioactive compounds due the presence of defined configuration. We report here asymmetric alkylation studies on N-derivatized glucose-and allose-based spirooxazolidinones which do act as chiral auxiliaries.

Rare sugars are monosaccharides with tremendous potential for applications in pharmaceutical, cosmetics, nutraceutical, and flavors industries. The four rare sugars, including; gulose, allose, altrose and talose are stereoisomers that are different in the hydroxyl group orientation (axial or equatorial) on the C2-4 atoms. The DFT, AIM, and, NBO calculations were used to probe the probability of formation of internal H-bonds in four rare sugars. The AIM analysis identified that altrose and talose can form three predominantly intramolecular H-bonds, whereas gulose and allose revealed one and two H-bonds, respectively and these normal intramolecular H-bonds are mostly closed-shell interactions. The theoretical calculated O-H stretching FT-IR vibrational frequencies confirmed that the intramolecular H-bonds shifted toward low frequencies in comparison to the free hydroxyl group, which caused the red-shift. Also, the lowest IR frequency in each sugar was related to the structure with the highest stabilization energy and the most strongest intramolecular H-bonds.

A linear tetramer of β-(1 → 6)-linked 3-azido-3-deoxy- d -allose containing glycosyl donor and glycosyl acceptor functions in the terminal monosaccharide units was prepared starting from 3-azido-3-deoxy-1,2:5,6-di-O-isopropylidene-α- d -allofuranose. Cyclization of the linear tetramer under glycosylation conditions afforded the corresponding cyclic tetrasaccharide in 77% yield; its deprotection and reduction of the azido groups resulted in the formation of the cyclic tetramer of 3-amino-3-deoxy- d -allose with axial amino groups, a potential scaffold for the synthesis of tetravalent functional clusters.

The replacement of hydroxyl groups by fluorine atoms on hexopyranose scaffolds may allow access to the discovery of new chemical entities possessing unique physical, chemical and ultimately even biological properties. The prospect of significant effects generated by such multiple and controlled substitutions encouraged us to develop diverse synthetic routes towards the stereoselective synthesis of polyfluorinated hexopyranoses, six of which are unprecedented. Hence, we report the synthesis of heavily fluorinated galactose, glucose, mannose, talose, allose, fucose, and galacturonic acid methyl ester using a Chiron approach from inexpensive levoglucosan. Structural analysis of single-crystal X-ray diffractions and NMR studies confirm the conservation of favored 4C1 conformation for fluorinated carbohydrate analogs, while a slightly distorted conformation due to repulsive 1,3-diaxial F···F interaction is observed for the trifluorinated talose derivative. Finally, the relative stereochemistry of multi-vicinal fluorine atoms has a strong effect on the lipophilicities (logP)., Polyfluorinated hexopyranoses display unique physical, chemical and biological properties, however their stereoselective synthesis is highly challenging. Here, the authors report a synthetic approach based on the chemical manipulation of inexpensive levoglucosan to obtain heavily fluorinated monosaccharides stereoselectively.

1,2,6-Trideoxy-6-amido-d-allose derivative was synthesized and found to exhibit higher growth-inhibitory activity against plants than the corresponding deoxy-d-allose ester, which indicates that an amide group at C-6 of the deoxy-d-allose amide enhances inhibitory activity. In addition, the mode of action of the deoxy-d-allose amide was significantly different from that of d-allose which inhibits gibberellin signaling. Co-addition of gibberellin GA3 restored the growth of rice seedlings inhibited by the deoxy-d-allose amide, suggesting that it might inhibit biosynthesis of gibberellins in plants to induce growth inhibition.

D-Allose is a potential medical sugar because it has anticancer, antihypertensive, anti-inflammatory, antioxidative, and immunosuppressant activities. Allose production from fructose as a cheap substrate was performed by a one-pot reaction using Flavonifractor plautiiD-allulose 3-epimerase (FP-DAE) and Clostridium thermocellum ribose 5-phosphate isomerase (CT-RPI). The optimal reaction conditions for allose production were pH 7.5, 60°C, 0.1 g/l FP-DAE, 12 g/l CT-RPI, and 600 g/l fructose in the presence of 1 mM Co2+. Under these optimized conditions, FP-DAE and CT-RPI produced 79 g/l allose for 2 h, with a conversion yield of 13%. This is the first biotransformation of fructose to allose by a two-enzyme system. The production of allose by a one-pot reaction using FP-DAE and CT-RPI was 1.3-fold higher than that by a two-step reaction using the two enzymes.

d -Allose was considered as a kind of rare sugars with testified potential medicinal and agricultural benefits. l -Rhamnose isomerase (L-RI, EC 5.3.1.14), an aldose-ketose isomerase, played a significant part in producing rare sugar. In this article, a thermostable d -allose-producing L-RI was characterized from a thermotolerant bacterium, Thermobacillus composti KWC4. The recombinant L-RI was activated obviously in the presence of Mn2+ with an optimal pH 7.5 and temperature 65 °C. The Michaelis-Menten constant (Km), turnover number (kcat) and catalytic efficiency (kcat/Km) for l -rhamnose were 33.8 mM, 1189.8 min−1 and 35.2 min−1 mM−1, respectively. At a higher temperature, Mn2+ played a pivotal role in strengthening the thermostability of T. composti L-RI. The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) results showed the denaturing temperature (Tm) of T. composti L-RI was increased by 3 °C in presence of Mn2+. Although the T. composti L-RI displayed the optimum substrate as l -rhamnose, it could also effectively catalyze the isomerization between d -allulose and d -allose. When the reaction reached equilibrium, the sole product d -allose was produced from D-alluose by T. composti L-RI.

Interactions between proteins and carbohydrates are ubiquitous in biology. Therefore, understanding the factors that determine their affinity and selectivity are correspondingly important. Herein, we have determined the relative strengths of intramolecular interactions between a series of monosaccharides and an aromatic ring close to the glycosylation site in an N-glycoprotein host. We employed the enhanced aromatic sequon, a structural motif found in the reverse turns of some N-glycoproteins, to facilitate face-to-face monosaccharide–aromatic interactions. A protein host was used because the dependence of the folding energetics on the identity of the monosaccharide can be accurately measured to assess the strength of the carbohydrate–aromatic interaction. Our data demonstrate that the carbohydrate–aromatic interaction strengths are moderately affected by changes in the stereochemistry and identity of the substituents on the pyranose rings of the sugars. Galactose seems to make the weakest and allose the strongest sugar–aromatic interactions, with glucose, N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) and mannose in between. The NMR solution structures of several of the monosaccharide-containing N-glycoproteins were solved to further understand the origins of the similarities and differences between the monosaccharide–aromatic interaction energies. Peracetylation of the monosaccharides substantially increases the strength of the sugar–aromatic interaction in the context of our N-glycoprotein host. Finally, we discuss our results in light of recent literature regarding the contribution of electrostatics to CH–π interactions and speculate on what our observations imply about the absolute conservation of GlcNAc as the monosaccharide through which N-linked glycans are attached to glycoproteins in eukaryotes.

Ketone derived from diacetone-α-D-glucose is a suitable starting material for the synthesis of 3-C-linked glycohybrids containing 1,2,3-triazole moiety as an intersugar linkage. The pyranose tautomers of 3-deoxy-3-(1,2,3-1H-triazol-1-yl)glucose, 3-C-[(1,2,3-1Htriazol-1-yl)methyl]allose and 3-C-[(1,2,3-1H-triazol-1-yl)methyl]gulose moieties are released upon the acidic hydrolysis of the corresponding O-isopropylidene-protected furanosyl-type synthetic intermediates. Some of the title compounds show a rare property of activating β-galactosidase from Escherichia coli.

To characterize l-rhamnose isomerase (l-RI) from the thermophilic bacterium Clostridium stercorarium and apply it to produce d-allose from d-allulose. A recombinant l-RI from C. stercorarium exhibited the highest specific activity and catalytic efficiency (k cat/K m) for l-rhamnose among the reported l-RIs. The l-RI was applied to the high-level production of d-allose from d-allulose. The isomerization activity for d-allulose was maximal at pH 7, 75 °C, and 1 mM Mn2+ over 10 min reaction time. The half-lives of the l-RI at 65, 70, 75, and 80 °C were 22.8, 9.5, 1.9, and 0.2 h, respectively. To ensure full stability during 2.5 h incubation, the optimal temperature was set at 70 °C. Under the optimized conditions of pH 7, 70 °C, 1 mM Mn2+, 27 U l-RI l−1, and 600 g d-allulose l−1, l-RI from C. stercorarium produced 199 g d-allose l−1 without by-products over 2.5 h, with a conversion yield of 33% and a productivity of 79.6 g l−1 h−1. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest concentration and productivity of d-allose reported thus far.

1,6-Anhydrohexopyranose, which is a major pyrolysis product of cellulose and other carbohydrates, has a unique 1C4 chair conformer. Thus, during pyrolysis, the molecule must undergo a conformational transformation from the 4C1 to the 1C4 geometry, and this interconversion is expected to be influenced by the sugar's hydroxyl group configuration. In this article, the influences of the C2-, C3-, and C4-OH configuration on the 1,6-anhydrohexopyranose yield were evaluated under vacuum pyrolysis conditions for five hexoses (glucose, mannose, allose, galactose, and gulose). Furthermore, the results are discussed within the context of theoretical results that indicate the relative stability of two types of the conformers of glycopyranosyl oxocarbenium ions with C6-pseudo-equatorial and C6-pseudo-axial orientations, which were calculated with density functional theory (DFT). The latter conformation would lead to the formation of the 1,6-anhydrohexopyranose with a 1C4 conformation. The theoretical results were in good agreement with the experimental yields; C2-OH (both axial and equatorial) and C3-OH (equatorial) enhance 1,6-anhydrohexopyranose formation, while C4-OH (axial) inhibits the formation (axial/equatorial: in 4C1 form). These results also support the heterolysis mechanism for this transformation, and such conformational change was suggested to be more effective in the evaporation process from liquid to gaseous substance.

Stable amides and oligopeptides derived from methyl trans,trans -3-azido-4-hydroxymethyl- l -azetidine carboxylate, prepared in 19% yield from diacetone allose, is the first example of a β-amino-azetidine carboxylic acid incorporated into peptidomimetics and provides a scaffold for investigating secondary structure induced by a novel β-amino acid. A number of azetidine iminosugars containing a NHAc substituent were prepared but none of them were β- N -acetylhexosaminidase inhibitors.

The preparation of the δ-heptonolactones, 4- O -benzyl- D - glycero - D - D - gulo -heptono-1,5-lactoneand 4- O -benzyl- D - glycero - D - allo -heptono-1,5-lactone, by Kiliani reactions on 3- O -benzylglucose and 3- O -benzylallose are reported; acetonides of the two lactones are described.

The Kiliani synthesis on the 4 readily accessible ketohexoses ( d -fructose, d -tagatose, l -sorbose, d -psicose) allows access to 4 diastereomeric 2-C-methyl-aldohexoses (2-C-methyl- d -mannose, 2-C-methyl- d -talose, 2-C-methyl- l -gulose, 2-C-methyl- d -allose) and 4 diastereomeric 2-C-methyl-alditols (2-C-methyl- d -mannitol, 2-C-methyl- d -talitol, 2-C-methyl- l -gulitol, 2-C-methyl- d -allitol). Microbial oxidation of 2-C-methyl- d -mannitol and 2-C-methyl- l -gulitol gave 5-C-methyl- d -fructose; microbial oxidation of 2-C-methyl- d -talitol afforded 5-C-methyl- d -psicose, whereas 2-C-methyl- d -allitol formed 5-C-methyl- l -psicose. Both enantiomers of 5-C-methyl-fructose were equilibrated by d -tagatose-3-epimerase (DTE) with both enantiomers of 5-C-methyl-psicose. These transformations demonstrate that polyol dehydrogenases and DTE act on branched synthetic sugars. Full NMR analyses show that 5-C-methyl- d -fructose is present as the β-pyranose and β-furanose forms in a ratio of 90:10; all pyranose and furanose forms of 5-C-methyl- d -psicose are present in solution. The combination of chemical and biological procedures allows the environmentally friendly generation of a new family of branched monosaccharides.

Recently, monosaccharide-triazole conjugates have proved to possess a large variety of useful biological activities. This paper describes synthesis of a new series of 3-deoxy-3-C-triazolylmethyl-allose derivatives. These new compounds are obtained from acetonide-protected 3-deoxy-3-azidomethyl allose and commercial alkynes via Cu(I) catalyzed 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition. The obtained molecular scaffolds differ from those described earlier by the presence of a methylene linker (-CH2-) between the C(3) of allose and the triazole moiety. It was demonstrated that acetonide-protected monosaccharide, 3-deoxy-3-C-(4-phenyl-1H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)methyl-1,2:5,6-di-O-isopropylidene-α-d-allofuranose, inhibited α-L-fucosidase for 26% at 0.1 mM concentration, but a deprotected analog, 3-deoxy-3-C-(4-(4-tert-butylphenyl)-1H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)methyl-β-d-allofuranose, showed 15% inhibition of β-glucosidase at 1 mM concentration.

Ruthenium-catalysed epimerisation of secondary carbohydrate alcohols was used to determine the thermodynamic equilibrium between non-anomeric epimers of partially protected glucose, mannose and allose derivatives. A cyclopentadienylruthenium catalyst was used to epimerise each of two pure epimeric alcohols in two separate experiments. The epimerisation reactions were run until the same ratio of epimers was obtained from the two experiments.

Uridine diphosphogalactose-4-epimerase (UDP-galactose-4-epimerase, GalE, EC 5.1.3.2) mediates the 4-epimerization of nucleic acid-activated galactose into UDP-glucose. To date, no enzyme is known to mediate 4-epimerization of free monosaccharide substrates. To determine the potential activity of GalE for free monosaccharide, Escherichia coli GalE was expressed and purified using Ni-affinity chromatography, and its ability to mediate 4-epimerization of a variety of free keto- and aldohexoses was assessed. Purified GalE was found to possess 4-epimerization activity for free galactose, glucose, fructose, tagatose, psicose, and sorbose at 0.47, 0.31, 2.82, 9.67, 15.44, and 2.08 nmol/mg protein per minute, respectively. No 4-epimerization activity was found for allose, gulose, altrose, idose, mannose, and talose. The kinetic parameters of 4-epimerization reactions were K m = 26.4 mM and k cat = 0.0155 min−1 for d-galactose and K m = 237 mM and k cat = 0.327 min−1 for d-tagatose. The 4-epimerization of tagatose, a reaction of commercial interest, was enhanced twofold (19.79 nmol/mg protein per minute) when asparagine was exchanged with serine at position 179. The novel activity of GalE for free monosaccharide may be beneficial for the production of rare sugars using cheap natural resources. Potential strategies for developing enhanced GalE with increased 4-epimerization activity are discussed in the context of the above findings and an analysis of a 3D structural model.

The alpha-galactosidase from Aspergillus nidulans (AglC) belongs to a phylogenetic cluster containing eukaryotic alpha-galactosidases and alpha-galacto-oligosaccharide synthases of glycoside hydrolase family 36 (GH36). The recombinant AglC, produced in high yield (0.65 g.L(-1) culture) as His-tag fusion in Escherichia coli, catalysed efficient transglycosylation with alpha-(1-->6) regioselectivity from 40 mm 4-nitrophenol alpha-d-galactopyranoside, melibiose or raffinose, resulting in a 37-74% yield of 4-nitrophenol alpha-D-Galp-(1-->6)-D-Galp, alpha-D-Galp-(1-->6)-alpha-D-Galp-(1-->6)-D-Glcp and alpha-D-Galp-(1-->6)-alpha-D-Galp-(1-->6)-D-Glcp-(alpha1-->beta2)-d-Fruf (stachyose), respectively. Furthermore, among 10 monosaccharide acceptor candidates (400 mm) and the donor 4-nitrophenol alpha-D-galactopyranoside (40 mm), alpha-(1-->6) linked galactodisaccharides were also obtained with galactose, glucose and mannose in high yields of 39-58%. AglC did not transglycosylate monosaccharides without the 6-hydroxymethyl group, i.e. xylose, L-arabinose, L-fucose and L-rhamnose, or with axial 3-OH, i.e. gulose, allose, altrose and L-rhamnose. Structural modelling using Thermotoga maritima GH36 alpha-galactosidase as the template and superimposition of melibiose from the complex with human GH27 alpha-galactosidase supported that recognition at subsite +1 in AglC presumably requires a hydrogen bond between 3-OH and Trp358 and a hydrophobic environment around the C-6 hydroxymethyl group. In addition, successful transglycosylation of eight of 10 disaccharides (400 mm), except xylobiose and arabinobiose, indicated broad specificity for interaction with the +2 subsite. AglC thus transferred alpha-galactosyl to 6-OH of the terminal residue in the alpha-linked melibiose, maltose, trehalose, sucrose and turanose in 6-46% yield and the beta-linked lactose, lactulose and cellobiose in 28-38% yield. The product structures were identified using NMR and ESI-MS and five of the 13 identified products were novel, i.e. alpha-D-Galp-(1-->6)-D-Manp; alpha-D-Galp-(1-->6)-beta-D-Glcp-(1-->4)-D-Glcp; alpha-D-Galp-(1-->6)-beta-D-Galp-(1-->4)-D-Fruf; alpha-D-Galp-(1-->6)-D-Glcp-(alpha1-->alpha1)-D-Glcp; and alpha-D-Galp-(1-->6)-alpha-D-Glcp-(1-->3)-D-Fruf.

The activity of ribose-5-phosphate isomerases (RpiB) from Clostridium difficile for D-ribose isomerization was optimal at pH 7.5 and 40 degrees C, while that from Thermotoga maritima for L-talose isomerization was optimal at pH 8.0 and 70 degrees C. C. difficile RpiB exhibited activity only with aldose substrates possessing hydroxyl groups oriented in the right-handed configuration (Fischer projections) at the C2 and C3 positions, such as D-ribose, D-allose, L-talose, L-lyxose, D-gulose, and L-mannose. In contrast, T. maritima RpiB displayed activity only with aldose substrates possessing hydroxyl groups configured the same direction at the C2, C3, and C4 positions, such as the D- and L-forms of ribose, talose, and allose.

This study reports syntheses of d-allose 6-phosphate (All6P), D-allulose (or D-psicose) 6-phosphate (Allu6P), and seven D-ribose 5-phosphate isomerase (Rpi) inhibitors. The inhibitors were designed as analogues of the 6-carbon high-energy intermediate postulated for the All6P to Allu6P isomerization reaction (Allpi activity) catalyzed by type B Rpi from Escherichiacoli (EcRpiB). 5-Phospho-D-ribonate, easily obtained through oxidative cleavage of either All6P or Allu6P, led to the original synthon 5-dihydrogenophospho-D-ribono-1,4-lactone from which the other inhibitors could be synthesized through nucleophilic addition in one step. Kinetic evaluation on Allpi activity of EcRpiB shows that two of these compounds, 5-phospho-D-ribonohydroxamic acid and N-(5-phospho-D-ribonoyl)-methylamine, indeed behave as new efficient inhibitors of EcRpiB; further, 5-phospho-D-ribonohydroxamic acid was demonstrated to have competitive inhibition. Kinetic evaluation on Rpi activity of both EcRpiB and RpiB from Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MtRpiB) shows that several of the designed 6-carbon high-energy intermediate analogues are new competitive inhibitors of both RpiBs. One of them, 5-phospho-D-ribonate, not only appears as the strongest competitive inhibitor of a Rpi ever reported in the literature, with a K(i) value of 9 microM for MtRpiB, but also displays specific inhibition of MtRpiB versus EcRpiB.

An allose-containing analogue 2 of thephytoalexin elicitor β-(1→3)-branched β-(1→6)-linkedglucohexatose and its dodecyl glycoside 3 hasbeen regio- and stereospecifically synthesized. As a typical exampleof the method, the synthesis of 2 was achieved viacoupling of the trisaccharide donor 2,3,4,6-tetra- O-benzoyl-β- D-glucopyranosyl-(1→3)-[2,3,4,6-tetra- O-benzoyl-β- D-glucopyranosyl-(1→6)]-1,2- O-isopropylidene-α- D-allopyranosyl trichloroacetimidate ( 9) with a trisaccharide acceptor. The donorwas prepared easily from 1,2:5,6-di- O-isopropylidene-α- D-allofuranose ( 5)and 2,3,4,6-tetra- O-benzoyl-α- D-glucopyranosyl trichloroacetimidate ( 4) in a regio- and stereoselective manner.

An unexpected and interesting intramolecular side reaction occurred during the attempted synthesis of glycosyl cyanides upon treatment of 1-O-acetyl-3-azido-3-deoxyallose derivatives with TMSCN and different Lewis acids. Exo-1,2-O-cyanoalkylidene derivatives formed by neighboring group participation and attack of cyanide underwent, after Lewis-acid mediated isomerization to the endo-isomer, intramolecular azide cyanide cycloaddition leading to the formation of tetrazoles embedded in bridged tetracyclic ring systems. The efficiency of cycloaddition is dependent on the ring structure of the sugar (pyranose or furanose). Of the studied molecules, 3-azido-1,2-O-cyanoethylidene-3-deoxy-allopyranose provides the most suitable scaffold for intramolecular [2+3] cycloaddition under exceptionally mild conditions. Our results highlight the capability of carbohydrates to act as scaffolds for the precise positioning of functional groups productive for a specific chemical reaction.

Glycoside hydrolase family 31 (GH 31) is one of the most intriguing glycoside hydrolase families. This family contains α-glucosidase, α-xylosidase, α-glucan lyase and isomaltosyltransferase. Escherichia coli YicI (α-xylosidase) is a representative enzyme of GH 31 because its biochemical and structural studies have been thoroughly carried out. YicI is a strict α-xylosidase, which rigidly recognizes α-xyloside at the non-reducing terminal end, even though its amino acid sequence apparently displays similarity with α-glucosidases. Phe277, Cys307, Trp345 and Lys414 at the subsite-1 are important for α-xylosidase activity. The mutant YicI enzymes, which possesses Ile307/Asp308 instead of Cys307/Phe308 and which has a shorter β→α loop 1 of (β/α)8 barrel in place of the original longer loop, respectively, possess α-glucosidase activity. In the transxylosylation of YicI, glucose, mannose and allose are able to act as acceptors, but galactose, talose and gulose never do, implying that equatorial OH-4 of the aldopyranose is crucial for acting as an acceptor. YicI transfers α-xylosyl moieties to a specific hydroxy group in the acceptor sugar (except fructopyranose) showing 1,6 regioselectivity, which is in agreement with the structural feature of the aglycone-biding site. Among the transxylosylation products of YicI, α-D-xylopyranosyl-(1→6)-D-mannopyranose, α-D-xylopyranosyl-(1→6)-D-fructofuranose, and α-D-xylopyranosyl-(1→3)-D-fructopyranose are novel sugars. α-D-Xylopyranosyl-(1→6)-D-mannopyranose and α-D-xylopyranosyl-(1→6)-D-fructofuranose have the ability to inhibit rat intestinal α-glucosidases.

The specificity of the aglycone-binding site of Escherichia coliα-xylosidase (YicI), which belongs to glycoside hydrolase family 31, was characterized by examining the enzyme's transxylosylation-catalyzing property. Acceptor specificity and regioselectivity were investigated using various sugars as acceptor substrates and α-xylosyl fluoride as the donor substrate. Comparison of the rate of formation of the glycosyl–enzyme intermediate and the transfer product yield using various acceptor substrates showed that glucose is the best complementary acceptor at the aglycone-binding site. YicI preferred aldopyranosyl sugars with an equatorial 4-OH as the acceptor substrate, such as glucose, mannose, and allose, resulting in transfer products. This observation suggests that 4-OH in the acceptor sugar ring made an essential contribution to transxylosylation catalysis. Fructose was also acceptable in the aglycone-binding site, producing two regioisomer transfer products. The percentage yields of transxylosylation products from glucose, mannose, fructose, and allose were 57, 44, 27, and 21%, respectively. The disaccharide transfer products formed by YicI, α-d-Xylp-(16)-d-Manp, α-d-Xylp-(16)-d-Fruf, and α-d-Xylp-(13)-d-Frup, are novel oligosaccharides that have not been reported previously. In the transxylosylation to cello-oligosaccharides, YicI transferred a xylosyl moiety exclusively to a nonreducing terminal glucose residue by α-1,6-xylosidic linkages. Of the transxylosylation products, α-d-Xylp-(16)-d-Manp and α-d-Xylp-(16)-d-Fruf inhibited intestinal α-glucosidases.

The fungal enzyme pyranose dehydrogenase (PDH) (EC 1.1.99.29) purified to apparent homogeneity from culture media of Agaricus meleagris catalyzed the substrate-dependent C-1, C-2, C-3, C-1,3′ or C-2,3(′) (di)oxidation of a number of mono- and disaccharides with 1,4-benzoquinone as an electron acceptor. d -Ribose, d -allose, d -gulose and d -talose were oxidized to the corresponding aldonic acids. l -Arabinose was converted exclusively to 2-dehydro- l -arabinose ( l -erythro-pentos-2-ulose) whereas d -xylose underwent competing C-2 and C-3 oxidation followed by dioxidation to 2,3-didehydro- d -arabinose ( d -glycero-pentos-2,3-diulose). The major final oxidation products of maltose and cellobiose were the novel compounds 2,3′-didehydromaltose and 2,3′-didehydrocellobiose (α- and β- d -ribo-hexos-3-ulopyranosyl-(1 → 4)- d -arabino-hexos-2-ulose), formed via 2- and 3′-monooxidation intermediates. Minor concomitant (di)oxidation at C-1,(3′) to the corresponding bionic acids also took place. Maltotriose was preferentially oxidized at C-3″ of the terminal glucopyranosyl unit and at C-1 of the reducing moiety. The structures of these sugar oxidation products were established by in situ 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy and ESI–MS. Based on HPLC analysis, conversions of (glycosyl)aldoses in non-buffered systems were nearly quantitative within 3–24 h, depending on the substrate. As the enzyme allows an easy access to highly reactive di- or tricarbonyl sugars, it might become a useful catalyst in carbohydrate chemistry.

Mass production of a rare aldohexose D-allose from D-psicose was achieved in a batch reaction by crude recombinant L-rhamnose isomerase (L-RhI) cross-linked with glutaraldehyde. The D-psicose substrate was, in turn, mass produced from a naturally abundant ketohexose D-fructose by immobilized recombinant D-tagatose 3-epimerase (D-TE). At an equilibrium state, 25% of D-psicose was isomerized to D-allose, that is, 25 g of D-allose was obtained from 100 g of D-psicose. The D-allose product was easily separated and crystallized from the reaction mixture that contains 25%D-allose, 8%D-altrose and 67%D-psicose using ethanol. Empirically, approximately 338 g, that is, 90% of a theoretical overall yield for the purification of pure D-allose crystals was produced from 1.5 kg of D-psicose within 30 d using a constructed bioreactor. The cross-linked enzyme had an operative half-life of two months after repeated usages.

The synthesis and biological evaluation of some new glycose esters bearing the 1,2- O -isopropylidene- d -hexofuranose functionality and belonging to the 3- O -acyl- d -allose and 6- O -acyl- d -glucose series are reported. When the results concerning cell growth inhibition are compared, it appears that the 6- O -acyl- d -glucose derivatives are more active than the 3- O -acyl- d -allose compounds. Within both 6- O -acyl- d -glucose and 3- O -acyl- d -allose derivatives, butyric esters displayed the highest inhibitory effects. Inhibition of cell growth is not associated with high induction levels of erythroid differentiation, despite the fact that pivaloates induce erythroid differentiation to an extent similar to that exhibited by previously reported molecules [ Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 1999 , 9 , 3153–3158].

Replacement of specific hydroxyl groups by fluorine in carbohydrates is an ongoing challenge from chemical, biological, and pharmaceutical points of view. A rapid and efficient two-step, regio- and stereoselective synthesis of 2-deoxy-2-(R)-fluoro-beta-d-allose (2-(R)-fluoro-2-deoxy-beta-d-allose; 2-FDbetaA), a fluorinated analogue of the rare sugar, d-allose, is described. TAG (3,4,6-tri-O-acetyl-1,5-anhydro-2-deoxy-d-arabino-hex-1-enitol or 3,4,6-tri-O-acetyl-d-glucal), was fluorinated in anhydrous HF with dilute F(2) in a Ne/He mixture or with CH(3)COOF at -60 degrees C. The fluorinated intermediate was hydrolyzed in 1N HCl and the hydrolysis product was purified by liquid chromatography and characterized by 1D (1)H, (13)C, and (19)F NMR spectroscopy as well as 2D NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. In addition, (18)F-labeled 2-deoxy-2-(R)-fluoro-beta-d-allose (2-[(18)F]FDbetaA) was synthesized for the first time, with an overall decay-corrected radiochemical yield of 33+/-3% with respect to [(18)F]F(2), the highest radiochemical yield achieved to date for electrophilic fluorination of TAG. The rapid and high radiochemical yield synthesis of 2-[(18)F]FDbetaA has potential as a probe for the bioactivity of d-allose.

Mycosamine is a dideoxyaminosugar found in medicinally relevant macrolides, including amphotericin B and nystatin. Herein we report a reliable, high yielding, scalable synthesis of a mycosamine donor. A major goal of our approach was to minimize purifications via judicious selection of protecting groups; the inherent properties of the allose framework created some deprotection obstacles that were ultimately solved.

Studies of carbohydrates have been hampered by the lack of chemical strategies for the expeditious construction and coupling of differentially protected monosaccharides. Here, a synthetic route based on aldol coupling of three aldehydes is presented for the de novo production of polyol differentiated hexoses in only two chemical steps. The dimerization of α-oxyaldehydes, catalyzed by l -proline, is then followed by a tandem Mukaiyama aldol addition-cyclization step catalyzed by a Lewis acid. Differentially protected glucose, allose, and mannose stereoisomers can each be selected, in high yield and stereochemical purity, simply by changing the solvent and Lewis acid used. The reaction sequence also efficiently produces 13 C-labeled analogs, as well as structural variants such as 2-amino– and 2-thio–substituted derivatives.

6,6′-Linked ethers derived from D-allose, D-galactose, D-glucose, and D-mannose have been prepared in order to allow comparisons with the reported 6,6′-linked hexopyranose coyolosa, an hypoglycemic compound which has been isolated by extraction of the root of the palm Acrocomia mexicana. Comparison of NMR data from the ethers and their derived peracetates with corresponding reported data from coyolosa and its peracetate indicate that coyolosa is not a 6,6′-linked disaccharide. The synthesised compounds are representatives of a novel class of disaccharide derivatives which are linked tail to tail in contrast to the more usual head to tail (e.g. maltose) or head to head (e.g. trehalose) disaccharides.

The C‐glycoside of methyl α‐d‐altropyranosyl‐(1→4)‐α‐d‐glucopyranoside 2 was prepared in a convergent fashion, from readily available precursors, 4‐O‐tert‐butyldiphenylsilyl‐1,2‐O‐isopropylidene‐d‐erythro‐S‐phenyl monothiohemiacetal 13 (five steps from D‐ribose) and the known acid, methyl 2,3,6‐tri‐O‐benzyl‐4‐C‐(carboxymethyl)‐4‐deoxy‐α‐d‐glucopyranoside 17 (seven steps from methyl α‐d‐glucopyranoside). The key reactions in the synthesis are the oxocarbenium ion cyclization of thioacetal‐enol ether 19 to a C1 substituted glycal 20, and the stereoselective hydroboration of 20 to the α‐C‐altroside 21. †This paper is Dedicated to Professor Gerard Decotes on the occasion of his 70th birthday.

A stereodivergent entry to 5a-carba-D- and L-pyranoses from a single precursor is described. The approach is based on the selective deoxygenation of polyoxygenated methylcyclohexane intermediates, readily available from radical cyclization of D-mannose derivatives. This strategy has been applied to the preparation of 5a-carba-α-D-allo-, 5a-carba-β-L-talo-, and 5a-carba-α-L-gulopyranose pentaacetates.

Thirteen glycosides and methyl (3R,5R)-5-hydroxy-(beta-D-glucopyranosyloxy)-hexanoate were newly isolated from the Japanese fern Hymenophyllum barbatum, although our previous work revealed the isolation of hemiterpene glycosides, hymenosides A-J, from the same species. The structures of the newly isolated glycosides were elucidated by extensive two-dimensional (2D) NMR and/or chemical evidence. The structures of those aglycones were divided into four types, 2-methyl-but-2-ene-1,4-diol, 2-hydroxymethyl-but-2-ene-1,4-diol, 2-methylene-butane-1,3,4-triol, and 3-hydroxy-5-hexanolide. The sugar moieties, which were acylated by phenylacetic acid derivatives, were also established by chemical and spectroscopic methods. Eight glucosides of the isolated compounds in the present investigation had a bitter or weakly pungent taste. It is clear that a phenylacetyl group attached to glucose or allose as an ester is necessary for the bitter taste.

The first analytical method is presented for the identification and absolute configuration determination of all 24 aldohexose and 2-ketohexose isomers, including the D and L enantiomers for allose, altrose, galactose, glucose, gulose, idose, mannose, talose, fructose, psicose, sorbose, and tagatose. Two unique fixed ligand kinetic method combinations were discovered to create significant enough energetic differences to achieve chiral discrimination among all 24 hexoses. Each of these 24 hexoses yields unique ratios of a specific pair of fragment ions that allows for simultaneous determination of identification and absolute configuration. This mass spectrometric-based methodology can be readily employed for accurate identification of any isolated monosaccharide from an unknown biological source. This work provides a key step towards the goal of complete de novo carbohydrate analysis.

This study investigated the formation of oxo groups in pure solutions of barley mixed-linkage (1 → 3),(1 → 4)-β- d -glucans (MLGs) incubated in the presence of hydrogen peroxide or Fenton reaction-generated hydroxyl radicals ( OH), and it gives a fingerprint of products obtained after enzymic and acidic hydrolysis of OH-attacked MLG. Hydroxyl radical, but not hydrogen peroxide, introduced a range of NaB3H4-reducible functions into MLG chains. Driselase or lichenase digestion of NaB3H4-reduced MLGs released a complex mixture of 3H-labelled products due to the presence of unusual and incompletely digestible residues in OH-attacked polysaccharide chains. Complete acid hydrolysis of OH-treated MLGs yielded a mixture of 3H-aldoses (mainly glucose, mannose, galactose and allose) deriving from random OH attack at positions 2, 3 or 4 to form glycosulose residues which were NaB3H4-reducible to epimeric mixtures of 3H-aldose residues. Furthermore, the production of [3H]glucitol demonstrated the radical-mediated cleavage of mid-chain glucose residues to create new reducing termini. Oxidative scission of MLGs by hydroxyl radical caused a decrease in molecular weight of about 96%, which was partially inhibited by the addition of DMSO, an OH scavenger. The results can be a starting point for developing an assay to detect changes due to OH attack of MLGs in vivo, or during food processing and storage, based on the chemical or enzymic release of unusual sugar residues such as allose as diagnostic products after reduction/labelling treatment and partial purification (or selective digestion by lichenase) of polymeric material.

The synthesis of 2,3-epoxyamide derivatives of 2-amino-2-deoxy- d -allose is described. Epoxidation of the corresponding α,β-unsaturated amides with m -CPBA took place with better stereoselectivity when an oxazolidine ring was fused to the 2,3-positions of the sugar molecule. In most cases, both stereoisomers could be isolated and characterized. The stereochemistry of the new stereogenic centers was then determined by cleavage of the oxirane moiety from the chiral auxiliary, which was also recovered.

Intramolecular 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions of nitrones formed from 3-O-allyl- d -glucose and d -altrose (both with threo-configuration at C-2,3) afford oxepanes selectively whereas the same reactions of nitrones derived from 3-O-allyl- d -allose and d -mannose (both with erythro-configuration at C-2,3) give tetrahydropyrans selectively.

The synthesis of 3-spirohydantoin derivatives of d -allose and d -ribose is reported. The key step is the stereoselective conversion of glyco-α-aminonitriles from ulose derivatives of d -glucose and d -xylose using titanium(IV) isopropoxide as a mild and efficient catalyst. Cyclisation of the glyco-α-aminonitriles give the target spirohydantoins.

A novel diaza-18-crown-6-based saccharide receptor (4) bearing two boronic acid groups has been developed. In 4 boronic acid groups in the side arms interact as Lewis acids with amines and boron atoms are changed to sp3 hybridization through the B···N interaction. Because of this hybridization, the boronic acid groups can bind saccharides even in a neutral pH region. Judging from the distance between two boronic acid groups in 4 assuming a syn conformation, one can expect that 4 forms 1:1 cyclic complexes with monosaccharides. These are confirmed by circular dichroism spectroscopy of 4 in the presence of glucose and allose. UV photometric titration studies showed that the boronic acid groups and metal cation bound to the crown cavity competitively interact as Lewis acids with the crown amines. As a result, saccharides and metal cations “communicate” with each other in an allosteric manner. It was shown that added metal cations can affect the saccharide binding ability of 4 through the competitive interact...

The phosphorylation reaction by inorganic cyclo -triphosphate (P 3m ) having a six-membered ring was examined for d -aldohexoses and d -aldopentoses in aqueous solution. Similar to the process for d -glucose, d -galactose, d -xylose or d -allose were phosphorylated with P 3m to give stereoselectively β- d -galactopyranosyl 1-triphosphate, β- d -xylopyranosyl 1-triphosphate or β- d -allopyranosyl 1-triphosphate with maximum yields of 31.3, 32.5 or 32.1%, respectively. On the other hand, in the reaction of d -ribose, d -lyxose, d -mannose or d -arabinose with P 3m , the yields of β- d -ribopyranosyl 1-triphosphate, α- d -lyxopyranosyl 1-triphosphate, α- d -mannopyranosyl 1-triphosphate or α- d -arabinopyranosyl 1-triphosphate were 8.0, 16.5, 9.6 or 14.1%, respectively. The phosphorylation mechanism of d -aldopyranoses with P 3m was also discussed.

A new branched-chain aldose, 2- C -(hydroxymethyl)- d -allose ( 3 ), was obtained by a base-catalysed addition of 2,3:5,6-di- O -isopropylidene-β- d -allofuranose to formaldehyde followed by acid hydrolysis of the aldol product. On treatment with a catalytic amount of molybdic acid at 90 °C, 3 afforded its equilibrium mixture with sedoheptulose tautomeric and anhydro forms in the ratio 12:1. Sedoheptulose in its 2,7-anhydro form, 2,7-anhydro-β- d - altro -heptulopyranose, was obtained from this mixture by treatment with 0.5 M H 2 SO 4 and crystallisation (overall 63% yield).

Immobilised glucose isomerase (EC 5.3.1.5) accepted various (2 R ,3 R ,4 R )-configured hexoses such as 5-deoxy- d - ribo -hexose, 5-azido-5-deoxy- d -allose, as well as the corresponding epimer at C-5, 5-azido-5-deoxy- l -talose, as substrates. From the resulting azidodeoxyketoses, 5-azido-5-deoxy- d -psico- and - l -tagatopyranose, the powerful d -galactosidase inhibitors 2,5-dideoxy-2,5-imino- d -galactitol and - d -altritol were obtained in one additional step.

ABC transport systems for import or export of nutrients and other substances across the cell membrane are widely distributed in nature. In most bacterial systems, a periplasmic component is the primary determinant of specificity of the transport complex as a whole. We report here the crystal structure of the periplasmic binding protein for the allose system (ALBP) from Escherichia coli , solved at 1.8 A resolution using the molecular replacement method. As in the other members of the family (especially the ribose binding protein, RBP, with which it shares 35 % sequence homology), this structure consists of two similar domains joined by a three-stranded hinge region. The protein is believed to exist in a dynamic equilibrium of closed and open conformations in solution which is an important part of its function. In the closed ligand-bound form observed here, d -allose is buried at the domain interface. Only the β-anomer of allopyranose is seen in the crystal structure, although the α-anomer can potentially bind with a similar affinity. Details of the ligand-binding cleft reveal the features that determine substrate specificity. Extensive hydrogen bonding as well as hydrophobic interactions are found to be important. Altogether ten residues from both the domains form 14 hydrogen bonds with the sugar. In addition, three aromatic rings, one from each domain with faces parallel to the plane of the sugar ring and a third perpendicular, make up a hydrophobic stacking surface for the ring hydrogen atoms. Our results indicate that the aromatic rings forming the sugar binding cleft can sterically block the binding of any hexose epimer except d -allose, 6-deoxy-allose or 3-deoxy-glucose; the latter two are expected to bind with reduced affinity, due to the loss of some hydrogen bonds. The pyranose form of the pentose, d -ribose, can also fit into the ALBP binding cleft, although with lower binding affinity. Thus, ALBP can function as a low affinity transporter for d -ribose. The significance of these results is discussed in the context of the function of allose and ribose transport systems.

New 3′,6′-dideoxy-3′,6′-epithio and 2′,6′-dideoxy-2′,6′-epithionucleosides were prepared from 3′,6′-dideoxy-3′,6′-epithioglucofuranose derivatives, which were obtained from 3-trifluoromethanesulfonyl diacetone allose.

d -(1,3,6- 13 C 3 )Allose ( 1 ), ( 13 C)methyl α - d -(1,2- 13 C 2 )glucopyranoside ( 2 ) and ( 13 C)methyl β - d -(1,2- 13 C 2 )glucopyranoside ( 3 ) were synthesized and used to establish the signs of their constituent 2 J CCC or 2 J COC values ( 2 J C1,C3 in the α -pyranose of 1 ( 15 ), and 2 J C1,CH 3 in 2 and 3 ). Compounds 2 , 3 and 15 contain three mutually coupled labeled carbons, thus creating a three-spin system from which crosspeak displacements in 13 C– 13 C COSY-45 spectra were used to determine coupling signs. In all compounds, at least one 3 J CC value was present as an internal reference: 3 J C2,CH 3 in 2 and 3 , and 3 J C1,C6 and 3 J C3,C6 in 15 . 2 J C1,CH 3 in 2 and 3 , and 2 J C1,C3 in 15 , were found to be negative, thus providing experimental confirmation of the sign predictions made via the projection resultant rule described recently.

A series of eight potential peptidomimetics has been synthesised based on the use of gluco- and allo- carbohydrate derivatives as scaffolds to support appropriate side-chains which mimic the D- and L- aminoacid residues of the cyclic peptide endothelin antagonist BQ123 .

A new efficient synthesis of 3-amino-3-deoxy- d -altrose (13), 3-amino-3-deoxy- l -allose (17), and 4-amino-4-deoxy- d -talose (21) from 2,3-O- isopropylidene- d -glyceraldehyde (6) using N-(tert-butoxycarbonyl)-2-(tert-butyldimethylsiloxy)pyrrole (TBSOP) as homologative nucleophile is described. The procedure highlights the merits of densely functionalized homochiral heptonolactam 9 as a key divergent intermediate.