Carbohydrate Scaffolds for the Production of Bioactive Compounds

Recent efforts in the use of carbohydrates as scaffolds for the production of bioactive compounds are reported. Orthogonally protected and solid phase supported monosaccharides for the production of libraries, exploiting the combinatorial approach by derivatisation of each hydroxyl group with different pharmacophores, are described. Example of peptidomimetics synthesised on a carbohydrate skeleton orienting proper amino acid residues, are also reported. In order to increase the conformational rigidity of the sugar templates, a variety of original bicyclic or policyclic polyfunctionalised structures have been synthesised from carbohydrates. Same of them have spiro or condensed bicyclic structures, others include one or more sugars in a macrocyclic framework or in cyclopeptides in order to induce bioactive peptide loops.