Reported herein is a new protocol for glycosidation of alkyl and aryl thioglycosides in the presence of copper(II) bromide. While the activation with CuBr2 alone was proven suitable for reactive glycosyl donors, the activation of less reactive donors was more efficient in the presence of triflic acid as an additive. A variety of thioglycoside donors in reactions with different glycosyl acceptors were investigated to determine the initial scope of this reaction.
Keywords: activation; glycosylation; oligosaccharides; synthesis; transition metals.