FORMATION OF DIASTEREOISOMERIC ORTHOACETATES OF D-MANNOSE: N.M.R. SPECTRAL EVIDENCE
Diastereoisomeric 1,2-orthoacetates of D-mannose are formed under conditions of the Königs–Knorr synthesis. This is shown by the isolation of two crystalline isomers of β-D-mannose 1,2-(benzyl orthoacetate), and also by examination of the nuclear magnetic resonance (n.m.r.) spectra of several D-mannose orthoacetates. The diastereoisomers show notable differences in respective chemical shifts for the C-methyl and other protons and these variations, together with isomer-ratio data, suggest that the major isomer of a given pair possesses the configuration in which the C-methyl group is endo- and the OR group is exo-. On acid hydrolysis the orthoacetates yield mainly 2-O-acetyl-D-mannose, the structure of which is confirmed by n.m.r. spectral evidence.