Advances in the synthesis of antiviral agents from carbohydrate-derived chiral pools

Carbohydrates are the most abundant natural products and a major component on the cell surface of living beings. They are useful building blocks of various natural products and organic synthesis due to their presence of multiple chiral centers and hydroxy groups. The recent outbreak of COVID-19 and other life-threatening viral infections necessitates the development of potent antiviral drugs. In this review, we focused on the synthesis of antiviral drugs to treat influenza, HIV, herpes, hepatitis, and other diseases, from different monosaccharides such as D-glucose, D-mannose, D-xylose, N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, D-gluconolactone, etc., such as anti-influenza drugs remdesivir, Tamiflu, zanamivir, and so on.