Studies of the stereoselective reduction of 2-hydroxyimino-hexopyranosides: LiBH4-Me3SiCl, a mild reducing agent of oximes to amines

Semisynthetic glycoconjugate vaccine candidate against Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype 5

Glycoconjugate vaccines based on isolated capsular polysaccharide (CPS) save millions of lives annually by preventing invasive pneumococcal disease caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae Some components of the S. pneumoniae glycoconjugate vaccine Prevnar13 that contains CPS antigens from 13 serotypes undergo modifications or degradation during isolation and conjugation, resulting in production problems and lower efficacy. We illustrate how stable, synthetic oligosaccharide analogs of labile CPS induce a specific protective immune response against native CPS using S. pneumoniae serotype 5 (ST-5), a problematic CPS component of Prevnar13. The rare aminosugar l-PneuNAc and a branched l-FucNAc present in the natural repeating unit (RU) are essential for antibody recognition and avidity. The epitope responsible for specificity differs from the part of the antigen that is stabilized by chemical modification. Glycoconjugates containing stable, monovalent synthetic oligosaccharide analogs of ST-5 CPS RU induced long-term memory and protective immune responses in rabbits superior to those elicited by the ST-5 CPS component in multivalent Prevnar13.

Biosynthetic and synthetic access to amino sugars

Amino sugars are important constituents of a number of biomacromolecules and products of microbial secondary metabolism, including antibiotics. For most of them, the amino group is located at the positions C1, C2 or C3 of the hexose or pentose ring. In biological systems, amino sugars are formed due to the catalytic activity of specific aminotransferases or amidotransferases by introducing an amino functionality derived from L-glutamate or L-glutamine to the keto forms of sugar phosphates or sugar nucleotides. The synthetic introduction of amino functionalities in a regio- and stereoselective manner onto sugar scaffolds represents a substantial challenge. Most of the modern methods of for the preparation of 1-, 2- and 3-amino sugars are those starting from "an active ester" of carbohydrate derivatives, glycals, alcohols, carbonyl compounds and amino acids. A substantial progress in the development of region- and stereoselective methods of amino sugar synthesis has been made in the recent years, due to the application of metal-based catalysts and tethered approaches. A comprehensive review on the current state of knowledge on biosynthesis and chemical synthesis of amino sugars is presented.

Synthesis of β-C-GlcNAc Ser from β-C-Glc Ser

The glycosylation of proteins, specifically installation of O-GlcNAc on Ser/Thr residues, is a dynamic control element for transcription repression, protein degradation, and nutrient sensing. To provide homogeneous and stable structures with this motif, the synthesis of a C-linked mimic, C-GlcNAc Ser, has been prepared from the C-Glc Ser by a double inversion strategy using azide to insert the C-2 nitrogen functionality. The C-Glc Ser was available by a ring-closing metathesis and hydroalkoxylation route.

Directed dihydroxylation of cyclic allylic alcohols and trichloroacetamides using OsO4/TMEDA

The oxidation of a range of cyclic allylic alcohols and amides with OsO4/TMEDA is presented. Under these conditions, hydrogen bonding control leads to the (contrasteric) formation of the syn isomer in almost every example that was examined. Evidence for the bidentate binding of TMEDA to OsO4 is presented and a plausible mechanism described.

Stereoselective syntheses of the O,N-protected subunits of the tunicamycins

The synthesis of the title compounds is described, i.e. coupling of the ylide, generated from the iodophosphonium salt of protected N-phthaloyl-D-galactosamine with 2,3-O-isopropylidene D-ribo-aldehyde afforded an undecose in high yield. Hydroboration-oxidation reaction of the olefinic linkage in the undecose led to the desired tunicamine, as the predominant product. After conversion of the latter to a glycosyl acceptor, this was assembled with the fully protected 2-oxyimino-2-deoxy-alpha-D-arabino-hexopyranosyl bromide, leading to a trehalose-type alpha, beta-disaccharide.

Highly stereoselective synthesis of alpha,beta-linked, nonreducing disaccharides related to tunicamycin

3,4,6-Tri-O-benzoyl-2-(benzoyloxyimino)-2-deoxy-alpha-D-arabino-++ +hexopyranosy l bromide (2) reacts with the O-protected 2-deoxy-2-phthalimido-beta-D-galactosamines 3 and 4 in the presence of silver triflate and sym-collidine at -78 degrees C, to give alpha,beta-(1-->1)-linked disaccharides 6a and 7a with an excellent selectivity. The 2-oxyimino function was stereospecifically converted into a 2-acetamido group by use of the LiBH4-Me3SiCl-THF reductive species, furnishing, after acetylation, the alpha-D-GlcNAc-(1-->1)-beta-D-GalNPhth nonsymmetrical, trehalose type disaccharides 13 and 14 related to tunicamycin (1, part A). Similarly, alpha-D-GlcNAc-(1-->1)-beta-D-GlcNPhth (15) was prepared, starting from 2 and 5. The factors governing the stereoselectivity of the glycosylation reactions were determined.