ABSTRACT
The conversion of 6-deoxy-6-nitro-o-glucose and -L-idose by base-catalyzed cyclizations to deoxynitroinositols was effected in 1948 as the first carbohydrate to carbocyclic compound transformation [1]. With the extensive range of functionalized cyclohexane derivatives that occur naturally, and beckon as synthetic challenges, it now seems surprising that it was not until 30 years later that much further headway was made with synthesizing them from carbohydrates. Since the 1970s, very appreciable interest has been taken in the biological importance of many of the foregoing compounds, and concomitant progress has been made with the development of suitable methods for their production from sugars.
