Design synthesis and preliminary evaluation of a potent α- mannosidase inhibitor: 1,4-dideoxy-1,4-imino- D -mannitol

1,4-Dideoxy-1,4-imino-D-mannitol (1), synthesised from benzyl α-D-mannopyranoside, is a potent competitive inhibitor of the hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl α-D-mannopyranoside catalysed by Jack Bean α-mannosidase (Cnavalia ensiformis); this is the first report of the specific inhibition of a glycosidase by a pyrrolidine analogue of a furanose sugar.