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Radical Reactions of Carbohydrates II: Radical Reactions of Carbohydrates

  • Page ID
    23799
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    Whenever a structural change is needed in a molecule, an early (if not the first) question is “What is the best way to accomplish this change?” For many years the answer to this question rarely involved a radical reaction (unless polymerization was taking place) because the synthetic potential of radical reactions was viewed in a negative light.1 As understanding of radical reactions blossomed during the latter part of the 20th Century, this situation changed, and radical-based processes were seen increasingly not only as synthetically viable possibilities but often as the best choice. Nowhere was the option of conducting a radical reaction more attractive than in carbo­hydrate chemistry because the combined chemo­selec­tivity, regioselectivity, and stereoselectivity of these reactions was partic­ularly well suited for structural change in poly­functional molecules.