Novel derivatives of UDP-glucose: concise synthesis and fluorescent properties.

A series of novel 5-substituted UDP-glucose derivatives with interesting fluorescent properties and potential applications as sensors for carbohydrate-active enzymes is reported. An efficient synthesis of the target molecules was developed, centred around the Suzuki-Miyaura reaction of (hetero)arylboronic acids with 5-iodo UDP-glucose. Interestingly, the optimised cross-coupling conditions could also be applied successfully to 5-bromo UMP, but not to 5-bromo UDP-glucose.