Direct oxidation of sugar nucleotides to the corresponding uronic acids: TEMPO and platinum-based procedures Original Research Article

The direct oxidation of UDP-α-d-glucose and UDP-N-acetyl-α-d-glucosamine to the corresponding uronic acids was explored using either TEMPO or platinum-catalysed oxidation with molecular oxygen. Whilst TEMPO-based procedures gave rise to substantial over-oxidation and/or degradation of UDP-glucose, oxidation of UDP-N-acetyl-glucosamine to UDP-N-acetyl-glucosaminuronic acid was achieved with >90% conversion and ca. 65% isolated yield using a platinum-catalysed procedure.