A convenient synthesis of carbohydrate derived furo/pyrano[2,3-b]pyrans from 2-hydroxymethyl glycals

An efficient method for the stereoselective synthesis of various linearly fused bicyclic acetals using 2-hydroxymethyl glycals, involving Ferrier type rearrangement and ring-closing metathesis as the key steps, is revealed. The methodology was shown to be very general by applying it to various sugar substrates which lead to the formation of various bicyclic furo/pyrano[2,3-b]pyran ring systems.

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