Epdxy Sugars as Intermediates in Carbohydrate Syntheses

One pot regioselective syntheses of a number of biologically interesting compounds have been achieved from readily available epoxy sugars. The isolation and structural elucidation of various terpenes, alkaloids and a cardenolide from some medicinal plants are also described. The epoxy sugars are stable intermediates with unique properties of the oxirane ring to serve, both, as a protecting group and as a reactive site which have led to their extensive exploitation in carbohydrate syntheses. These also have the added advantage of the ease of removal of protecting group after the described synthetic strategy has been accomplished. Although epoxy sugars with oxirane ring between positions 1, 6, 3, 4, 1, 2 and 2, 3 are