An improved synthesis of 4-azido-4-deoxy- and 4-amino-4-deoxy-alpha,alpha-trehalose and their epimers.

The order of esterification of the eight hydroxyl groups of alpha,alpha-trehalose is HO-6.6' > HO-2.2' > HO-3.3' > HO-4.4'. Under the appropriate conditions of benzoylation, the heptabenzoate with HO-4' free was obtained in good yield (58%), along with the octabenzoate and the hexabenzoate having HO-4.4' free. The readily isolated heptabenzoate was a convenient starting material for the synthesis of 4-azido-4-deoxy- (84%) and 4-amino-4-deoxy-alpha-D-galactopyranosyl alpha-D-glucopyranoside, and the heptabenzoate of alpha-D-galactopyranosyl alpha-D-glucopyranoside with HO-4' free, which was used as a synthetic precursor of 4-azido-4-deoxy-alpha-D-glucopyranosyl alpha-D-glucopyranoside and its amino analogue.

An improved synthesis of trehalose 6-mono- and 6,6'-di-corynomycolates and related esters.

A simplified synthesis of 6-mono- and 6,6'-di-corynomycolate esters of alpha,alpha-trehalose, and related compounds, was achieved by coupling the (hydroxyl-protected) acids to the partially trimethylsilylated sugar in the presence of dicyclohexylcarbodiimide and 4-dimethylaminopyridine. As acid reactants, (2-RS,3-RS)-3-hydroxy-2-tetradecyloctadecanoic acid (DL-corynomycolic acid) and its 2RS,3SR diastereomer were prepared from methyl palmitate by sequential Claisen condensation, reduction, chromatographic separation, and saponification. Reaction with tert-butylchlorodimethylsilane (imidazole) gave the disubstituted ether-esters, which were converted into the required 3-tert-butyldimethylsilyl ethers by partial hydrolysis. 6-Linked monocorynomycolate was obtained in excellent yield (78%) from the reaction of the RS,SR acid with the known heptakis-O-(trimethylsilyl)trehalose, and in good yield from equimolar portions of RS,RS acid and hexakis-O-(trimethylsilyl)trehalose. An excess (2.5-molar portions) of the RS,RS acid gave the 6,6'-diester (69%). The mono- and di-palmitate were similarly obtained from (Me3Si)6-trehalose. The mono (RS,RS)-(Me3Si)6-trehalose coupling product was partially resolved on a silica gel column into its RR and SS diastereomers, the former corresponding to the naturally occurring trehalose monocorynomycolate. All coupling products were deprotected to free trehalose esters by treatment first with K2CO3 in methanol, then tetrabutylammonium fluoride-trifluoracetic acid in oxolane.

A convergent approach to the synthesis of lipid A.

To accomplish the synthesis of compounds having the essential structural features of bacterial lipid A, one must assemble a glucosamine disaccharide bearing five to seven substituents (fatty acyl groups, phosphate ester groups) at specific positions. In the convergent synthesis described, a protected glycoside prepared from D-glucosamine hydrochloride serves as the common intermediate from which both halves of the lipid A structure are fashioned. The glycoside is then converted, by separate series of reactions, into precursors of the reducing half and the nonreducing half of the molecule. The coupling of these precursors yields a product that is readily processed into analogues of lipid A.

Fatty acyl derivatives of glucosamine 1-phosphate in Escherichia coli and their relation to lipid A. Complete structure of A diacyl GlcN-1-P found in a phosphatidylglycerol-deficient mutant.

We have determined the complete structure of a glycolipid (designated lipid X) previously found to accumulate in certain Escherichia coli mutants defective in phosphatidylglycerol synthesis (Nishijima, M., and Raetz, C.R.H. (1979) J. Biol. Chem. 254, 7837-7844). Based on fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry and proton nuclear magnetic resonance studies, this substance is an acylated metabolite of glucosamine 1-phosphate. Lipid X of E. coli has a Mr = 711.87 as the free acid (C34H66NO12P) and contains two beta-hydroxymyristate moieties, one attached as an amide at the 2 position and the other as an ester at the 3 position of the sugar. It has free hydroxyl groups at the 4 and 6 positions, and the anomeric configuration is alpha. The structure of lipid X from E. coli closely resembles the reducing end subunit of lipid A, and it might represent a very early precursor in the biosynthesis of lipid A. To our knowledge, fatty acyl derivatives of glucosamine 1-phosphate have not been reported previously.

Oligosaccharides from "standardized intermediates". Synthesis of a branched tetrasaccharide glycoside isomeric with the blood-group B, type 2 determinant.

Building block derivatives of the component monosaccharides were used to construct the tetrasaccharide glycoside 15, in which an alpha-D-Galp-(1 leads to 4)-D-Gal linkage replaces the alpha-(1 leads to 3) linkage of the human blood-group B, type 2, determinant structure. The initial coupling of 2-O-benzoyl-3,6-di-O-benzyl-4-O-(tetrahydropyran-2-yl)-alpha-D-galactopyranosyl chloride to allyl 2-acetamido-3,6-di-O-benzyl-2-deoxy-beta-D-glucopyranoside was followed by selective deprotection of the disaccharide product, either at O-4' (to give 8) or O-2' (to give 3). The conversion of 8 into 15 involved successive coupling with tetra-O-benzyl-alpha-D-galactopyranosyl bromide (8 leads to 11), O-debenzoylation at O-2' (11 leads to 12), coupling with tri-O-benzyl-alpha-L-fucopyranosyl bromide (12 leads to 14), and O-debenzylation by hydrogenolysis (14 leads to 15). Alternatively, 3 was alpha-L-fucosylated to give 6, and 6 was selectively deprotected at O-4' to give 7. However, attempts to alpha-D-galactosylate 7 were unsuccessful. The unsubstituted forms of the intermediate disaccharide (8) and trisaccharide (12) glycosides were obtained by appropriate deblocking procedures.

Oligosaccharides from "standardized intermediates". The 2-amino-2-deoxy-D-galactose analog of the blood-group O(H) determinant, type 2, and its precursors.

The selectively benzylated glycoside allyl 2-acetamido-4,6-di-O-benzyl-2-deoxy-beta-D-galactopranoside (4) was prepared from the corresponding derivative of 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-D-glucose via the p-bromobenzenesulfonate and the benzoate. 2-O-Benzoyl-3,4,6-tri-O-benzyl-alpha-D-galactopyranosyl (10) was obtained from allyl 6-O-benzyl-2-O-(2-butenyl)-alpha-D-galactopyranoside via known intermediates. To complete the sequence, the 1-propenyl 3,4,6-tri-O-benzyl galactoside was successively converted into the 2-benzoate, the free sugar, and the chloride 10. A fully protected form (11) of the trisaccharide alpha-L-Fucp-(1 leads to 2)-beta-D-Galp-(1 leads to 4)-D-GalNAc was then synthesized by coupling 10 to 4, partially deblocking the disaccharide product, and L-fucosylating the resulting intermediate. Cleavage of the O-benzyl groups from 11, with concomitant saturation of the allyl group, gave the propyl beta-glycoside of the unsubstituted trisaccharide.