Ether-protecting functions at C-2 hydroxy groups have been found to play participating roles in glycosylations when the reactions are conducted in nitrile solvent mixtures. The participation mechanism is based on intramolecular interaction between the lone electron pair of the oxygen atom of the C-2 ether function and the nitrile molecule when they are positioned in a cis configuration. A 1,2-cis glycosyl oxazolinium intermediate is formed. This participation, in conjunction with the anomeric effect of the glycosyl donor, confers high 1,2-trans selectivities on glycosylations. Further application of this concept has led to efficient preparations of α-(1→5)-arabinan oligomers.

The chemical properties of nucleophile additives were investigated in a modulated glycosylation context. N-Formylmorpholine (NFM) was found to be an effective modulator for glycosylation with less reactive 2-azido-2-deoxythioglucosyl and thiogalactosyl donors.

This study develops an operationally easy, efficient, and general 1,2-trans beta-selective glycosylation reaction that proceeds in the absence of a C2 acyl function. This process employs chemically stable thioglycosyl donors and low substrate concentrations to achieve excellent beta-selectivities in glycosylation reactions. This method is widely applicable to a range of glycosyl substrates irrespective of their structures and hydroxyl-protecting functions. This low-concentration 1,2-trans beta-selective glycosylation in carbohydrate chemistry removes the restriction of using highly reactive thioglycosides to construct 1,2-trans beta-glycosidic bonds. This is beneficial to the design of new strategies for oligosaccharide synthesis, as illustrated in the preparation of the biologically relevant beta-(1-->6)-glucan trisaccharide, beta-linked Gb(3) and isoGb(3) derivatives.

A straightforward on-line monitoring of organic reactions by ultrasonication-assisted spray ionization mass spectrometry (UASI MS) is demonstrated in this work.

Online monitoring of the appearance of the intermediates and products during chemical reactions is helpful to understand reaction mechanisms. Various analytical tools including nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, [1,2] Raman spectroscopy [3,4] and mass spectrometry (MS) have been employed for the study. MS is one of the most promising means among analytical tools that can provide information of mass-to-charge ratios for intermediates and products generated from chemical reactions.