Glycosidase inhibitors and methods of synthesizing same

Abstract From the Canadian patent

A method for synthesizing Salacinol, its stereoisomers and analogues, homologues and other derivatives thereof potentially useful as glycolsidase inhibitors. The compounds of the invention may have the general formula (I) or (II): The synthetic schemes comprise reacting a cyclic sulfate with a 5membered ring sugar containing a heteroatom (X). The heteroatom preferably comprises sulfur, selenium, or nitrogen. The cyclic sulfate and ring sugar reagents may be readily prepared from carbohydrate precursors such as D-, glucose, L-glucose, D-xylose and L-xylose. The target compounds are prepared by opening of the cyclic sulfates by nucleophilic attack of the heteroatoms on the 5-membered …