Carbohydrate-Derived Dienes as Building Blocks for Pharmaceutically Relevant Molecules

Carbohydrate-based dienes are valuable building blocks for a variety of highly functionalized carbo- and oxa-cycles by virtue of their high degree of inherent stereochemical information, and suitability in various synthetic transformations. Research into the chemistry of carbohydrate-based dienes has been expanding over the last decades due to its unique applications in the construction of diverse and complex structural frameworks. In this review, we describe the main transformations of this interesting class of molecule and highlight their utility in the construction of diverse ring systems important for drug development.