Org. Biomol. Chem., 2017,15, 8193-8203
A versatile two-step synthesis of C4 and C5-arylated 2’-deoxyribosylimidazoles was elaborated using enzymatic N-transglycosylation followed by microwave-assisted Pd-catalysed arylation reactions. We report herein the reaction conditions that permit to manage the regioselectivity (N3 versus N1-isomers) in the enzymatic glycosylation of 4-iodoimidazole using the nucleoside N-deoxyribosyltransferase from L. leichmannii. Regiocontrolled glycosylation was also observed among several other imidazole derivatives studied, providing simple access to isomers not readily accessible by chemical routes. Finally, a series of flexible nucleosides was obtained in one-step from 4 or 5-iodo-imidazole nucleoside by Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reaction with (hetero)aryl-boronic acids in aqueous media. Moreover, this chemoenzymatic approach is compatible with a one-pot two-step process affording a straightforward access to a broad array of potential anticancer and antiviral drugs as well as new DNA building blocks.