Synthesis of a versatile (S)-3-(hydroxymethyl)butane-1,2,4-triol building block and its application for the stereoselective synthesis of N-homoceramides.

[structures: see text] A versatile (S)-3-(hydroxymethyl)butane-1,2,4-triol building block has been synthesized starting from D-isoascorbic acid, a common food preservative. The key transformation in this approach was the introduction of branching through a high yield and fully regioselective epoxide opening. This flexible synthon has been elaborated to a new class of (dihydro-)N-homo(phyto)ceramides.