A new efficient and practical synthesis of 2-deoxy-l-ribose

An efficient and practical route for large-scale synthesis of 2-deoxy-l-ribose starting from l-ascorbic acid was developed in eight steps without chromatographic purification for all intermediates. Additionally, (2S,3R)-3,4-epoxy-1,2-O-isopropylidenebutane-1,2-diol, a versatile intermediate in carbohydrate synthesis, was also prepared readily in excellent yield as a key intermediate.