Stereospecific ester activation in nitrite-mediated carbohydrate epimerization

The Lattrell-Dax method of nitrite-mediated substitution of carbohydrate triflates is an efficient method to generate structures of inverse configuration. In the present study, epimerization of gluco- and galactopyranoside derivatives to the corresponding allo- and gulopyranoside structures by triflation/nitrite treatment has been investigated. It was found that a neighboring ester group was essential for the reactivity of the nitrite-mediated triflate, inversion. Furthermore, a good inversion yield also depended on the relative configuration of the neighboring ester group to the triflate. Only with the ester group in the equatorial position, whatever the configuration of the triflate, did the reaction proceed smoothly, whereas a neighboring axial ester group proved largely inefficient. The results were subsequently used to predict the inversion of glucopyranoside derivatives to the mannopyranoside epimers.