Formation of Complex Natural Compounds from Monosaccharides

Abstract

Asymmetric total synthesis of natural products is one of the central subjects in the organic synthetic world. In order to reach this goal, there are two main strategies: the first uses chiral auxiliaries and the secocnd uses chiral starting materials. The first most important task for completion of the total synthesis of natural products is disconnection of the target compound into the small starting materials by retrosynthetic analysis. Monosaccharides (carbohydrates) have been extensively used as fascinating starting materials in the enantiospecific synthesis of natural products. Some useful books on the carbohydrate-based chiral synthesis of natural products are available [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]. The advantages of using monosaccharides as a chiral pool are summarized as follows: 1) commercial availability; 2) low cost; 3) valuable carbon source (usually containing five or six carbon atoms); 4) enantiopure materials; 5) several definite chiral centers; 6) conformational rigidity which makes chemical transformations stereoselective.Key wordsChiral poolErythromycinsElaiophilinHerbimycinsCarbistrin ALactacystinTautomycinFK-506Halichondrin B