The arabinofuranoside method, a convenient substitute of the fucofuranoside method for determining the absolute configuration of the secondary alcohols

As a simple substitute of the fucofuranoside method, a recently devised technique for determining the absolute configuration of secondary alcohols by 13C NMR, the arabinofuranoside method is proposed. Unlike fucose, the derivatizing agent arabinofuranose tetraacetate is available quantitatively by acid treatment of arabinose followed by acetylation. Application to the ten alcohols, previously tested for fucofuranoside method, showed essentially the identical ΔδC and ΔδH values, indicating that the arabinofuranoside method is equally useful for determining the absolute configuration of the secondary alcohols.