The
pentasaccharide fragment α-d-Man-(1 →
5)-[α-d-Kdo-(2 → 4)-]α-d-Kdo-(2
→ 6)-β-d-GlcNAc-(1 → 6)-α-d-GlcNAc equipped with a 3-aminopropyl spacer moiety was prepared
by a sequential assembly of monosaccharide building blocks. The glucosamine
disaccharide—as a backbone surrogate of the bacterial lipid
A region—was synthesized using an 1,3-oxazoline donor, which
was followed by coupling with an isopropylidene-protected Kdo-fluoride
donor to afford a protected tetrasaccharide intermediate. Eventually,
an orthogonally protected manno-configured trichloroacetimidate
donor was used to achieve the sterically demanding glycosylation of
the 5-OH group of Kdo in good yield. The resulting pentasaccharide
is suitably protected for further chain elongation at positions 3,
4, and 6 of the terminal mannose. Global deprotection afforded the
target pentasaccharide to be used for the conversion into neoglycoconjugates
and “clickable” ligands.