Kinetically controlled Ferrier rearrangement of 3-O-mesyl-d-glycal derivatives

The Ferrier rearrangement, which is widely used in carbohydrate chemistry, is generally performed under acidic conditions to give an α anomer with high stereoselectivity. We have found that 3-O-mesyl-d-glycals 2–4 were smoothly reacted with alcohols in the presence of triethylamine. The present reaction was shown to proceed under kinetic control to give ∼1.3:1.0 mixture of α and β anomers, indicating that a kinetic anomeric effect does not operate.