“…[11] Recently, Lavandera et al proposed a molecular basis of this regioselectivity through molecular modeling, and they attributed the preferential acylation of the 5Ј-hydroxy group over the 3Ј-hydroxy one to favorable interactions, due to the appropriate orientation of the 2Ј-deoxynucleoside in the 5Ј-acylation pathway. [12] Nevertheless, they just focused their interest on the enzymatic acylation of 2Ј-deoxynucleosides, such as β-thymidine (1c). In the present work, the substrate recognition of CAL-B in the acylation of nucleosides, including ribonucleosides and 2Ј-deoxynucleosides, was revealed by rational substrate engineering (Scheme 1).…”