Abstract

Only four nitro sugars have been identified in Nature and these occur in a range of natural products with antibiotic and anticancer activities. In some cases the nitro sugars are essential binding elements, but precise information on molecular recognition is lacking. Nitro sugars have developed into important synthetic tools. Particular emphasis is placed on carbon-carbon bond formations by means of Henry, Michael and cycloaddition reactions, and on the transformation of the nitro group to an amino group. This review mainly covers the literature from 2008 onwards.

Keywords: Carbohydrates, carbon-carbon bond formation, cycloaddition, Henry reaction, nitro sugars, reduction.