Modular Synthesis of Constrained Ethyl (cEt) Purine and Pyrimidine Nucleosides.

A modular and scalable approach to pyrimidine- and purine-containing constrained ethyl (cEt) nucleosides is demonstrated. Minimizing stereochemical adjustments and protecting group manipulations, diacetone glucose is converted to two representative cEt nucleosides via a functionalized, common intermediate. The retrosynthetic approach to this complex class of drug precursors offers clear benefits over existing routes based on step count and efficiency.