Acyclic Stereoselective Synthesis of Carbohydrates

This review examines recent syntheses of carbohydrates in which the target compounds are viewed as acyclic carbon frameworks. The synthetic approaches are divided into two categories in which critical asymmetry is placed either by (a) stereo-selective carbon-carbon bond formation, or (b) stereoselective carbon-heteroatom bond formation. This account focuses its attention on the methodology utilized to place acyclic stereo-centers as the key feature of the synthetic strategy.