The chemistry of isopropenyl glycopyranosides. Transglycosylations and other reactions

Various anomerically pure isopropenyl alpha- and beta-glycopyranosides have been synthesized and shown to undergo synthetically useful transglycosylation reactions with a variety of primary and secondary carbohydrate alcohols. Although stable when stored, isopropenyl glycosides are readily activated as glycosyl donors by a variety of electrophiles, including N-iodosuccinimide/triflic acid, trimethylsilyl triflate, and triflic anhydride. Under conditions that retard formation of the glycosyl cation, the reactivity of isopropenyl glycosides is diverted away from transglycosylation and toward electrophilic addition across the vinyl ether double bond.