Philippe Compain & Olivier R. Martin 
Iminosugars 
From Synthesis to Therapeutic Applications

Iminosugars form undoubtedly the most attractive of carbohydrate
mimics reported so far. In these structures, the substitution of
the endocyclic oxygen of sugars by a basic nitrogen atom leads to
remarkable biological properties and raises many challenges in
organic synthesis. Since the discovery of their biological activity
as glycosidase inhibitors in the 1970’s, these polyvalent
molecules have progressively made their way from the laboratory to
the clinic.

The impressive series of discoveries in the field over the past
ten years indicates clearly that it is ‘a boom time’
for iminosugar chemistry and biology. The scope of their profile as
inhibitors has been extended to a number of enzymes such as
phosphorylases, glycosyltransferases or metalloproteinases, and
iminosugars now constitute lead compounds for the development of
new therapeutic agents for a wide range of diseases including
diabetes, viral infections, lysosomal storage disorders and tumor
metastasis.

Latest developments, from iminosugar synthesis to their use in
clinical studies, are presented in this book, which contains
contributions from over fifteen of the major chemists, biochemists
and drug developers in this rapidly expanding field. An extensive
table correlating the structures of more than 600 iminosugars of
therapeutic interest with their biological activities is also
included in the book and should prove particularly useful to aid
with the design and the discovery of novel bioactive
substances.

Iminosugars: From Synthesis to Therapeutic Application
provides a unique resource for academic and industrial researchers
working in the field of iminosugars and glycomimetics of biological
and/or therapeutic interest: organic chemists, medicinal chemists,
carbohydrate chemists and medical scientists.

About the author

Philippe Compain and Olivier R. Martin

CNRS, University of Orléans, France