Ferrier rearrangement

The Ferrier rearrangement is an organic reaction that involves a nucleophilic substitution reaction combined with an allylic shift in a glycal (a 2,3-unsaturated glycoside). It was discovered by the carbohydrate chemist Robert J. Ferrier.

In the first step, a delocalized allyloxocarbenium ion (2) is formed, typically with the aid of a Lewis acid like indium(III) chloride or boron trifluoride. This ion reacts in situ with an alcohol, yielding a mixture of the α (3) and β (4) anomers of the 2-glycoside, with the double bond shifted to position 3,4.

By replacing the alcohol with a silane, C-glycosides can be formed. With triethylsilane (R'=H), the reaction yields a 2,3-unsaturated deoxy sugar.

An analogous reaction with nitrogen as the heteroatom was described in 1984 for the synthesis of the antibiotic substance streptazolin.

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