A practical route to 3,6-dideoxyhexoses

Novel, readily scaled and practical routes for the synthesis of 3,6-dideoxy -D-xylo-hexose and 3,6-dideoxy-D-ribo-hexose and their corresponding glycos yl donors are presented. The method uses a 1,2-O-propylidene acetal to prot ect the monosaccharides, glucose and galactose, thereby permitting not only easy modification at both 3 and 6 positions, but also the opportunity to r eadily place different protecting groups on OH-2 and OH-4. (C) 2000 Elsevie r Science Ltd. All rights reserved.