A new, convenient, and safe route to 1,3,5-triamino-1,3,5-trideoxy-cis-inositoI (taci) was investigated by hydrogenation of azo-coupled derivatives of phloroglucinol. In the presence of acetic anhydride, the reduction of trisphenylazophloroglucinol (H,/Pd(5 %) on C) resulted in the formation of tri-, hexa-, and nona-acetylated derivatives of triaminophloroglucinol. All three compounds are air-stable, colorless solids. However, the succeeding hydrogenation to the cyclohexane derivative failed. TrisodiumtrisO, -sulfonatophenylazo)phloroglucinol could be hydrogenated in a one-pot reaction to the desired taci. 1.5 H2S04 using a Pt/Rh oxide as catalyst. taci provides two distinct chair conformations with either three amino or three hydroxy groups for metal binding. The unique metal-binding properties are discussed in terms of minimal conformational changes required for coordination. Introduction. -1,3,5-Triamino-l,3,5-trideoxy-cis -inositol (taci) received attention lately owing to the unusual acidity of the OH groups and the metal-binding properties [l-31. taci has first been prepared by Quadbeck and Rohm in 1956 [4], and the (all-&)-configuration has been elucidated 1966 by Lichtenthaler and Leinert [5]. Despite of the remarkable molecular structure -cyclohexane derivatives with three substituents in a stable syn -1,3,5-triaxial arrangement are rare -no further investigations on this compound have been reported until 1990. This is particularly a consequence of the tedious and dangerous preparation procedure, where the explosive trinitroso-and trinitrophloroglucinol, and the instable triaminophloroglucinol must be isolated as intermediates.A comprehensive study in our laboratory demonstrated that taci is a remarkably versatile ligand. A variety of complexes with divalent, trivalent, and tetravalent metal ions has been prepared and characterized, and possible applications in medicine have been considered [6]. However, the above mentioned difficulties in synthesizing this ligand