Carbohydrates as a chiral pool in organic synthesis: applications in asymmetric catalysis and synthesis of glycopeptides with potential biological activity

Abstract

The present reseach project is centered in the use of carbohydrates, namely D-glucosamine and D-xylose, as a chiral pool for the synthesis of chiral catalysts and ligand with potential application as chiral transfer agents in several enantioselective transformations using organometallic reagents. Moreover, the development of carbohydrate-based chiral organocatalysts that can act in metal-free asymmetric transformations, is also planned.On the other hand, we intend to prepare a series of selenium-containing glycosides and to incorporate them in a number of molecules, such as amino acids, peptides and their derivatives in order to prepare glycopeptides and glycopeptidemimetics. These compounds show a promising profile for a number of significant biological activities and this project should result in several collaborations with other research groups, specially those involved in the fields of biochemistry and toxicology. (AU)