Highly diastereoselective 1,2-dichlorination of glycals using NCS/PPh3: study of substituent and solvent effects

Highly diastereoselective 1,2-dichlorination of glycals has been achieved at room temperature conditions in good to excellent yields using a milder, more convenient, less hazardous reagent combination NCS/PPh3 giving only one major product out of four possible diastereomers [either α-gluco (2) or α-manno (4)] depending upon the substituents. The diastereoselectivity is maximum (100% α/β-selectivity as well as cis/trans selectivity) for d-galactal and l-rhamnal derivatives. Detailed studies showed that solvent and substituent effects play a significant role in determining the product distribution.