A green and regioselective acetylation of thioglycoside with ethyl acetate

Treatment of saccharidic polyols in ethyl acetate with catalytic sulfuric acid leads to the corresponding primary monoacetate derivatives in good yields. The transesterification was realized by simple stirring without rigorous exclusion of moisture or oxygen. Our protocol is applicable to the regioselective monoacetylation of amino sugars having different substituents at the 2-positions.