Carbohydrates: Synthesis, Mechanisms, and Stereoelectronic Effects explains the conformational, electrostatic, and stereoelectronic factors that control the chemical and biochemical behavior of carbohydrates in living cells. Topics include the anomeric effect, the chemistry of the glycosidic bond, isomerization of free carbohydrates in aqueous solutions, relative reactivity of hydroxyl groups in carbohydrate molecules, and the addition of nucleophiles to glycopyranosiduloses. Focus then shifts to the synthesis of glycosidic bonds and oligosaccharides, the synthesis of anhydro and amino sugars, branched chain sugars and the protection of hydroxyl groups in monosaccharides. The last three chapters are devoted to areas often overlooked in carbohydrate chemistry textbooks: carbohydrate based antibiotics, synthesis of polychiral natural products from carbohydrates, and the chemistry of higher-carbon sugars.