Organocatalytic synthesis of carbohydrates.

The key role of carbohydrates in biological processes and their visible existence in our everyday life have stimulated the interest of leading research groups on the smart and simple synthesis of common and rare sugar molecules. Now, more than 120 years after Fischer's first synthesis of (D)-glucose (1890), we are witnessing important development in this field of total synthesis. Using modern methods of direct activation of carbonyl compounds chemists can prepare sugars in an elegant and efficient way similar to that of Nature. This tutorial review presents recent impressive progress in the area of de novo synthesis of carbohydrates by using organocatalytic direct aldol reaction as a key step.