A concise synthesis of 2,5-dideoxy-2,5-imino-d-mannitol (DMDP) and HomoDMDP from l-xylose

A short and practical procedure for the preparation of C-2 substituted polyhydroxypyrrolidines is described. The C-2 substituent is introduced by a stereoselective addition of a Grignard reagent to a 2,3,5-protected aldofuranose and the cyclization to the pyrrolidine ring system is performed through a bis-mesylation/double nucleophilic displacement sequence. The efficiency of the methodology was demonstrated by its application to the synthesis of HomoDMDP and DMDP.