An Alternative Reaction Course in O-Glycosidation with O-Glycosyl Trichloroacetimidates as Glycosyl Donors and Lewis Acidic Metal Salts as Catalyst: Acid-Base Catalysis with Gold Chloride-Glycosyl Acceptor Adducts.

Gold(III) chloride as catalyst for O-glycosyl trichloroacetimidate activation revealed low affinity to the glycosyl donor but high affinity to the hydroxy group of the acceptor alcohol moiety, thus leading to catalyst-acceptor adduct formation. Charge separation in this adduct, increasing the proton acidity and the oxygen nucleophilicity, permits donor activation and concomitant acceptor transfer in a hydrogen-bond mediated S(N)2-type transition state. Hence, the sequential binding between acceptor and catalyst and then with the glycosyl donor enables self-organization of an ordered transition-state. This way, with various acceptors, even at temperatures below -60 °C, fast and high yielding glycosidations in high anomeric selectivities were recorded, showing the power of this gold(III) chloride acid-base catalysis. Alternative reaction courses via hydrogen chloride or HAuCl4 activation or intermediate generation of glycosyl chloride as the real donor could be excluded. With partially O-protected acceptors, prone to bidentate ligation to gold(III) chloride, particularly high reactivities and anomeric selectivities were observed. Gold(I) chloride follows the same catalyst-acceptor adduct driven acid-base catalysis reaction course.