Chemical synthesis and isolation of UDP-2-deoxy glucose and galactose

2-Deoxy sugars are attractive compounds in synthetic chemistry with regard to reactivity and stereoselectivity. Moreover, their ability to inhibit enzymes and metabolism is significant in biology. In this study, uridine-5′-diphosphate (UDP)-2-deoxy glucose (11) and galactose (12) were synthesized chemically. These sugar donors for glycosyltransferases were obtained α-selectively via phosphorylation using thioglycosides, coupling reaction with uridine-5′-monophosphate (UMP)-morpholidate, and moderate deacetylation. Isolation was carried out by sequential silica-gel chromatography using two kinds of developing solvents in a refrigerator. The structures were elucidated from the NMR results. Investigation of stability showed that the synthesized UDP-2-deoxy sugars were hydrolyzed much faster in buffer (pH 4) than the natural UDP sugars.