The roadmap for sucrose - a very inexpensive raw product

Sucrose, an inexpensive starting material available in virtually unlimited quantities, affords entry into a variety of novel and useful carbohydrate compounds. Selective protection of the secondary hydroxyl groups gives rise to a group of O-benzyl-protected intermediates that are useful in the synthesis of chiral phosphines and amino compounds of interest in the study of biological systems. The benzyl-protected fine chemicals are also key components in the synthesis of crown, thia-crown, and aza-crown compounds. Sophisticated molecular cages and molecular switches can be prepared from fine-tuned intermediates derived from selectively protected sucrose derivatives.