Glycosylation of sialyl acetates with a novel catalyst combination: bismuth triflate and BF3.OEt2 system.

A combined system of bismuth triflate [Bi(OTf)(3)] and boron trifluoride etherate (BF(3).OEt(2)) in dichloromethane is an efficient promoter for the glycosylation of N-acetylneuraminic acid derivatives. The co-existence of two acid catalysts such as Bi(OTf)(3)-BF(3).OEt(2) or Bi(OTf)(3)-PPA is confirmed to be essential for obtaining high yields of glycosylation products with p-nitrobenzyl alcohol, which also turned to be superior to those reported previously.