Remarkable oxidation stability of glycals: excellent substrates for cerium(IV)-mediated radical reactions

The remarkable stability of glycals under oxidative conditions becomes apparent by their redox data in solution, computed HOMO energies, and behavior on the addition of electrophilic radicals generated in the presence of cerium(IV) ammonium nitrate. Oxidation potentials up to 2.03 V vs ferrocene were obtained, which are exceptionally high for cyclic enol ethers but correlate nicely with the reaction times of the radical reactions. Protecting groups have a strong influence on the oxidation stability and HOMO energies of glycals as E(ox) is shifted from O-silyl over O-benzyl to O-acetyl by more than 500 mV. Interestingly, this effect must be transmitted through sigma-bonds, even up to the para-position of a benzoate group, as verified by a wide variation of remote substituents in the carbohydrate. Favorable interactions of the sigma*-orbital of the adjacent C-O bond with the HOMO of the double bond are proposed as a mechanistic rationale, which might be important for the redox behavior of other allylic systems. Finally, donors and acceptors in the 1-position exert the strongest influence on the oxidation stability, shifting the potentials by almost 1 V and resulting in different follow-up reactions of the cerium(IV)-mediated additions of malonates. It is the remarkable oxidation stability of glycals that makes them valuable building blocks in carbohydrate chemistry.