“…The 2‐OH group in 8 was methylated using iodomethane and silver oxide, [14] affording 9 . Complete deprotection of 9 , under acidic conditions, [15] gave the known 2‐O‐methyl‐α,β‐ d ‐mannose 10 in 25 % yield (Scheme 2). Next, we coupled 10 with pyruvate using a sialic acid aldolase, by following published conditions, [16a,b] to give the desired 5‐ O ‐methyl‐Kdn in an estimated equilibrium conversion of 80 % (TLC analysis).…”