L-4 in chlorinated solvents and in dioxane were studied by IR and 'H-NMR spectroscopy (Fig.2). In both diols, HO-C(2) forms an intramolecular, bifurcated H-bond. There is an intramolecular H-bond between HO-C(6) and F in solutions of L-4 in CH,CI,, but not in 1,4-dioxane; the solubility of L-4 in CHICI, is too low to permit a meaningful glycosidation in this solvent. Glycosidation of D-3 in dioxane by the carbene derived from 1 (Scheme 3 ) followed by acetyiation gave predominantly the pseudodisaccharides 18/19 (38%), derived from glycosidation of the axial OH group besides the pseudodisaccharides 16/17 (13%) and the epoxides 20/21 (7%), derived from protonation of the carbene by the equatorial OH group. Similarly, the reaction of L-4 with 1 (Scheme 4 ) led to the pseudodisaccharides 28/29 (46 %) and 26/27 (14%), derived from deprotonation of the axial and equatorial OH groups, respectively. Formation of the epoxides involved deprotonation of the intramolecularly H-bonded tautamer, followed by intramolecular alkylation, elimination, and substitution (Scheme 4 ) . The regio-and diastereoselectivities of the glycosidation correlate with the H-bonds in the starting diols.