The total synthesis of the tunicate metabolite mandelalide A and the correction of its originally assigned stereochemistry are reported. Key features of the convergent, fully stereocontrolled route include the use of a Prins cyclization for the diastereoselective construction of the tetrahydropyran subunit, Rychnovsky-Bartlett cyclization for the preparation of the tetrahydrofuran moiety, Suzuki coupling, Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons macrocyclization, and glycosylation to append the L-rhamnose-derived pyranoside.

Sialosides incorporating substituted amides or amines at 9-position of sialic acid moiety have been synthesized and evaluated as CD22 inhibitors. Several derivatives exhibited inhibitory potency in sub- to low micromolar range (e. g., 8o, 9d, 9g, and 9k showed IC 50 values 0.40, 0.47, 0.24, and 0.23 microM, respectively, for hCD22, while 8p, 8q, and 9f, showed IC 50 values 1.70, 2.90, and 4.10 microM, respectively, for mCD22). The most significant result was the strongly enhanced affinity of 9g and 9k containing 9-(2' or 4'-hydroxy-4-biphenyl) methylamino substituents (600-fold more potent for hCD22 than the corresponding 9-hydroxy derivative; 7a). Molecular modeling study was carried out to get some insights into the molecular basis of CD22 inhibition. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first systematic structure-affinity relationship study on inhibition of CD22.