Synthesis of exo-glycals and their biochemical applications

exo-Glycals are both valuable synthetic tools and biologically relevant structures. This article reviews the novel synthetic approaches that have been reported to synthesize sugar based tri- or tetrasubstituted exocyclic enol ethers. Among those, the Julia modified olefinations as well as the transition metal catalyzed cross-couplings have been extensively developed. The synthesis of unprecedented fluorinated and sulfonylated phosphono-exo-glycals are also described. An overview of the biological applications in which exo-glycals acts as inhibitors or inactivator of relevant enzymes is finally presented.