The orientation of the β-hydroxyl group controls the diastereoselectivity during the hydride reduction and Grignard reaction of inososes

A comparison of the results of the Grignard reaction and the hydride reduction of the carbonyl group of epi- and scyllo-inososes reveals that the extent of diastereoselectivity of these reactions is decided by the orientation of the β-hydroxyl group (or its derivative). Presence of an axial β-hydroxyl group generally results in the formation of relatively larger amount of the axial alcohol as a result of the reduction of the carbonyl group. The possible reasons for the observed differences in diastereoselectivity between the reactions of these isomeric epi- and scyllo-inososes have been discussed. The sequence of reactions reported here provides convenient access to C-alkylated inositols, such as iso-laminitol and iso-mytilitol as well as 2-O-methyl epi-inositol, an epimer of the naturally occurring ononitol.