To a suspension of (1S,2S,3S,4R,5S)-2,3,4-tris-benzyloxy-5-[4-chloro-3-(4-ethoxy-benzyl)-phenyl]-1-fluoromethyl-6,8-dioxa-bicyclo[3.2.1]octane (40 mg, 0.06 mmol) and palladium black (40 mg, 0.38 mmol, Aldrich® high surface area) in ethanol (0.5 mL) and tetrahydrofuran (0.1 mL) was added fomic acid (0.085 mL, 2.24 mmol) and the resulting mixture was stirred at room temperature for 1.5 hours. Ethyl acetate was added and the mixture was filtered through a short pad of Celite® and concentrated in vacuo. The crude material was purified by flash chromatography over silica gel using a 4 g redisep silica cartridge (eluting with a gradient of 50 to 100% ethyl acetate in heptane) to afford the title compound as a solid (15.6 mg, 63% yield). (LCMS) 483.0 (M+HCOO−: negative mode). 1H NMR (500 MHz, METHANOL-d4) delta ppm 7.44 (s, 1 H), 7.38 (s, 1 H), 7.37 (s, 1 H), 7.09-7.12 (m, 2 H), 6.80-6.83 (m, 2 H), 4.71 (dd, J=46.59, 10.49 Hz, 1 H), 4.50 (dd, J=48.30, 10.73 Hz, 1 H), 4.19 (dd, J=7.56, 0.98 Hz, 1 H), 4.04 (d, J=0.98 Hz, 2 H), 4.00 (q, J=6.99 Hz, 2 H), 3.80 (dd, J=8.29, 0.98 Hz, 1 H), 3.67 (t, J=8.17 Hz, 1 H), 3.54-3.57 (m, 2 H), 1.37 (t, 3 H).
