Synthesis of the glucuronide metabolite of ABT-751

A linear synthesis of the glucuronide metabolite of ABT-751 was replaced with a convergent synthesis that features direct glycosidic coupling between the aglycone and a trichloroacetimidate glucuronyl donor. Structural elucidation of a unique and unexpected difluoroboron complex of the desired glycosidic coupling product along with optimization of the synthetic steps is described.