3(A)-Azido-3(A)-deoxy-altro-beta-cyclodextrin, although having as many as 20 different hydroxyl groups, was selectively sulfortylated at the 2(A)-OH of the altrose residue by 2-mesitylenesulfonyl chloride to give 3(A)-azido-3(A)-deoxy-2(A)-O-mesitylenesulfonyl-altro-beta-cyclodextrin. A one-pot reduction-intramolecular substitution of the latter afforded the title compound as a promising intermediate for the introduction of two different functional groups to two different positions of one sugar unit, which has not been succeeded hitherto. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.