The Synthesis and Glycoside Formation of Polyfluorinated Carbohydrates

Fluorinated carbohydrates have found many applications in the glycosciences. Typically, these contain fluorination at a single position. There are not many applications involving polyfluorinated carbohydrates, here defined as monosaccharides in which more than one carbon has at least one fluorine substituent directly attached to it, with the notable exception of their use as mechanism-based inhibitors. The increasing attention to carbohydrate physical properties, especially around lipophilicity, has resulted in a surge of interest for this class of compounds. This review covers the considerable body of work toward the synthesis of polyfluorinated hexoses, pentoses, ketosugars, and aminosugars including sialic acids and nucleosides. An overview of the current state of the art of their glycosidation is also provided.