Monosaccharide derivatives as central scaffolds in the synthesis of glycosylated drugs

Carbohydrates are key molecules in nature with multiple roles in biological processes. Specifically the biological function of the glycosylated part is of great importance in natural products. In many cases carbohydrate-containing molecules are structurally diverse and this heterogeneity makes the isolation of sufficient amounts of the organic molecule from biological source extremely difficult. Therefore, chemical synthesis offers the advantage of producing pure and structurally defined oligosaccharides for glycoconjugate synthesis for biological investigations. Although the synthesis of these glycoderivatives is hampered by difficulties associated with the regioselectivity in polyhydroxyl protection and the stereoselectivity of glycosidic linkages, the preparation of activated regioselective sugar units, could represent a huge challenge in glycochemistry. The present review discusses some of the most recent advances in the construction of a set of tailor-made monosaccharide derivatives, key tools for final glycosylated drugs development.