Facile Synthesis of 2,4‐Dinitrophenyl α‐ D ‐Glycopyranosides as Chromogenic Substrates for α‐Glycosidases

Pure and simple. The efficient synthesis of chromogenic aryl glycoside substrates for N-acetyl-α-hexosaminidases, which were previously troublesome to prepare, is described (see scheme). This one-pot arylation/anomerisation sequence gives access to a range of aryl α-glycosides, and minimizes decomposition of β-linked intermediates in the case of the 2-acetamido sugars.