1,2,4-Trideoxy-1,4-imino-D-erythro-pentitol [(2R,3S)-3-hydroxy-2-hydroxymet
hylpyrrolidine] (4) was synthesised from 2,5-di-O-tosyl-D-ribono-1,4-lacton
e in 42 % overall yield. The hey steps were deoxygenation at C-2 and a ster
eospecific inversion of the configuration at C-4. Compound 4 inhibited alph
a-D-glucosidase (K-i = 25 mu M) and beta-D-glucosidase (K-i = 80 mu M).