Synthesis of ketopyranosyl glycosides and determination of their anomeric configuration on the basis of the three-bond carbon–proton couplings Original Research Article

Anomeric pairs of ketopyranosyl glycosides with various substituents at Cα, Cβ and Cγ were synthesized from the corresponding thioglycosides, and the influence of the Cα–Cβ–Cγ–Hγ torsion angle and substituent effects on the three-bond carbon–proton couplings was studied. The cis coupling constants range from 1 to 2 Hz. The trans couplings are generally as small as 2.3–2.6 Hz; however, for compounds bearing an unsubstituted γ-carbon, a relatively large trans coupling was measured (4.8 Hz). An S-ethyl group at the β-position increases the cis coupling (up to 3.2 Hz) compared to the corresponding O-glycosides.