GERALD L. LARSON
Gelest Inc., 11 East Steel Road, Morrisville, PA 19067, USA

Abstract

Some of the general approaches to the key steps in the synthesis of gliflozins, a class of glucose transporters, are discussed. In particular the glycosidation step for the introduction of the key aryl moiety onto the glucose and the reduction steps are presented.

INTRODUCTION
Gliflozins constitute a class of compounds that is useful as sodium glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors. The gliflozins have shown particular expediency in the treatment of diabetes 2. They accomplish this through blocking of sodium glucose transport proteins, which, in turn, inhibit the kidneys from resorbing glucose back into the blood stream. The excess, non-resorbed glucose is then eliminated with the urine with the net result being a dosage-regulated glucose level. It has been shown that a key feature of the gliflozins is their ability to distinguish between the inhibition of the SGLT1 transporter, a low-capacity, high-affinity transporter that is expressed in the gut, heart and kidney, and the SGLT2 transporter, a high-capacity, low-affinity transporter expressed mostly in the kidney. It is estimated that by the year 2025 nearly 400 million people will suffer from diabetes 2 (1). Due in large part to this growing population of diabetes sufferers, considerable efforts have been and continue to be taken in the gliflozin approach towards addressing the diabetes 2 affliction. A significant part of these efforts has centered on vari ...