Fluorinated carbohydrates have become indispensable in glycosciences. This contribution provides an overview of how fluorine introduction modifies physical and chemical properties of carbohydrates along with selected examples of its applications.

Fluoro-C-glycosides and fluoro-carbasugars are a particular subclass of hydrolytically stable glycomimetics that are expected to have different, hopefully improved properties thanks to the stereoelectronic features of the fluoroalkyl moiety. This review summarizes the studies devoted to the synthesis of such structures as well as the studies regarding their conformational behaviour and their potential as carbohydrate analogues.

This review presents discrete metal complexes that catalyse or photocatalyse reactions within living cells or living organisms.