A practical route to 3,6-dideoxyhexoses

Abstract 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 glycosyl donors are presented. The method uses a 1,2- O -propylidene acetal to protect the monosaccharides, glucose and galactose, thereby permitting not only easy modification at both 3 and 6 positions, but also the opportunity to readily place different protecting groups on OH-2 and OH-4.