New ruthenium-based protocol for cleavage of terminal olefins to primary alcohols: improved synthesis of a bicyclic nucleoside

A new protocol for the oxidative cleavage of terminal alkenes to give exclusively primary alcohols in high yields is introduced. The protocol is based on RuO4-mediated dihydroxylation, NaIO4-mediated diol cleavage, and NaBH4-mediated reduction, but the introduction of a reducing step before the diol cleavage removes the formation of byproducts and improves the yield significantly. The new protocol has been developed and used for the improved preparation of a [3.2.0]bicycloarabinonucleoside with important potential in antisense and antigene technology.