Spiroketals of monosaccharides by dye-sensitized photooxygenation of furyl ketoses

[4+2] Cycloaddition of singlet oxygen to suitably substituted furans followed by reduction of the corresponding endoperoxides afforded functionalized enediones which quickly cyclized into the titled spiroketals. The reported method represents a green synthetic one-pot procedure for novel [6,6]-, [5,6]-, and [5,5]-spiroketals of sugars.