The synthesis of 2-azido C-glycosyl sugars

Glycopeptide drugs: A pharmacological dimension between "Small Molecules" and "Biologics"

Peptides are an important class of molecules with diverse biological activities. Many endogenous peptides, especially neuropeptides and peptide hormones, play critical roles in development and regulating homeostasis. Furthermore, as drug candidates their high receptor selectivity and potent binding leads to reduced off-target interactions and potential negative side effects. However, the therapeutic potential of peptides is severely hampered by their poor stability in vivo and low permeability across biological membranes. Several strategies have been successfully employed over the decades to address these concerns, and one of the most promising strategies is glycosylation. It has been demonstrated in numerous cases that glycosylation is an effective synthetic approach to improve the pharmacokinetic profiles and membrane permeability of peptides. The effects of glycosylation on peptide stability and peptide-membrane interactions in the context of blood-brain barrier penetration will be explored. Numerous examples of glycosylated analogues of endogenous peptides targeting class A and B G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) with an emphasis on O-linked glycopeptides will be reviewed. Notable examples of N-, S-, and C-linked glycopeptides will also be discussed. A small section is devoted to synthetic methods for the preparation of glycopeptides and requisite amino acid glycoside building blocks.

Reaction of Glyconitriles with Organometallic Reagents: Access to Acyl β-C-Glycosides

A new strategy for the synthesis of acyl β-C-glycosides is described. The reactivity of glyconitriles toward organometallic reagents such as organomagnesium or organolithium derivatives was studied, affording acyl β-C-glycosides in moderate to good yields. In this study, glycal formation was efficiently prevented by deprotonating the hydroxyl group in position 2 of the glyconitriles during the process.

New and general synthesis of β-C-glycosylformaldehydes from easily available β-C-glycosylpropanones

A highly effective method for the introduction of a formyl group at the anomeric position of pyranosides was developed via enolisation of beta-C-D-glycopyranosylpropan-2-one using thermodynamic conditions then oxidative cleavage of the more substituted double bond. This sequence affords the desired aldehydes that are conveniently protected as aminals for purification and storage and easily regenerated using Dowex resin H+. In this paper, the syntheses of nine differently protected aldehydes derived from d-glucose, d-galactose, lactose and N-acetyl-d-glucosamine are presented. Our strategy proved to be very efficient in most cases excepted in the D-mannose series.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of phosphono analogues of capsular polysaccharide fragments from Neisseria meningitidis A

Neisseria meningitidis type A (MenA) is a Gram-negative encapsulated bacterium that may cause explosive epidemics of meningitis, especially in the sub-Saharan region of Africa. The development and manufacture of an efficient glycoconjugate vaccine against Neisseria meningitidis A is greatly hampered by the poor hydrolytic stability of its capsular polysaccharide, which is made up of (1-->6)-linked 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-alpha-D-mannopyranosyl phosphate repeating units. Since this chemical lability is a product of the inherent instability of the phosphodiester bridges, here we report the synthesis of phosphonoester-linked oligomers of N-acetyl mannosamine as candidates for stabilised analogues of the corresponding phosphate-bridged saccharides. The installation of each interglycosidic phosphonoester linkage was achieved by Mitsunobu coupling of a glycosyl C-phosphonate building block with the 6-OH moiety of a mannosaminyl residue. Each of the synthesised compounds contains an O-linked aminopropyl spacer at its reducing end (alpha- or beta-oriented) to allow for protein conjugation. The relative affinities of the synthetic molecules were investigated by a competitive ELISA assay and showed that a human polyclonal anti-MenA serum can recognise both the phosphonoester-bridged fragments 1-3 and their monomeric subunits, glycosides 20 and 21. Moreover, the biological results suggest that the abilities of these compounds to inhibit the binding of a specific antibody to MenA polysaccharide are dependent on the chain lengths of the molecules, but independent on the orientations of the anomeric linkers.

Allenyl Azide Cycloaddition Chemistry. Synthesis of Pyrrolidine-Containing Bicycles and Tricycles via the Possible Intermediacy of Azatrimethylenemethane Species

Thermolysis of 5-azidoallenes bearing a C(1) methyl group and either an aryl ring or an alkene on C(1) furnishes tricyclic (from the aryl substrates) or bicyclic (from the alkenyl substrates) pyrrolidine products following formal H-CN addition across an intermediate imine. High levels of diastereoselectivity are observed in all cases studied. This reaction cascade presumably passes through unobserved triazoline and azatrimethylenemethane diyl intermediates en route to product.

Highly efficient preparation of tumor antigen-containing glycopeptide building blocks from novel pentenyl glycosides

O-Glycosylated amino acids containing the tumor-associated T(Tf)-antigen (beta-D-Gal-(1-->3)-alpha-D-GalNAc) disaccharide unit were conveniently synthesized in seven steps starting from D-galactose via an n-pentenyl glycoside (NPG) building block. Azidonitration of 3,4,6-tri-O-acetyl-D-galactal, followed by nitrate displacement with simultaneous acetate hydrolysis with sodium 4-penten-1-oxide, afforded n-pentenyl 2-deoxy-2-azidogalactoside (3) in near quantitative yield. Subsequent high-yielding transformations resulted in the synthesis of the key glycosyl donor n-pentenyl beta-disaccharide 5 that was employed for the stereospecific preparation of glycosyl amino acids via NIS-promoted glycosylations with serine or threonine acceptors. The surprising utility of the reaction of sodium 4-penten-1-oxide with anomeric nitrates encouraged the detailed exploration of the action of a variety of nucleophiles on anomeric nitrates for the synthesis of useful 2-azido glycosyl donors directly from the 'classic' Lemieux azidonitration product of protected galactals. This expedient synthesis (28% overall yield from 1 to 7a) that makes use of heretofore rarely exploited pentenyl 2'-azidoglycosides, should be a valuable entry in the armamentarium of routes to biologically relevant glycopeptides in both mono- and multivalent forms.

Synthesis of alpha- and beta-glycosyl asparagine ethylene isosteres (C-glycosyl asparagines) via sugar acetylenes and Garner aldehyde coupling

A convergent approach has been developed for the synthesis of C-glycosyl amino acids in which the glycinyl moiety CH(NH2)CO2H is connected to the anomeric center of the sugar residue by a three carbon atom tether. Essentially, these compounds are isosteres of N-glycosyl asparagines in which the amide group has been replaced by an ethylene bridge. Following the coupling of alpha- or beta-D-linked lithium C-glycoside acetylides with N-Boc D-serinal acetonide (Garner aldehyde), the resulting adducts were transformed into the final N-Boc-C-glycosyl-alpha-aminopentanoic acids via reduction of the triple bond, deoxygenation, and oxidative cleavage of the oxazolidine ring. By this protocol, 12 C-glycosyl asparagines, six pairs of alpha- and beta-anomers, have been prepared incorporating the gluco, galacto, manno, and the corresponding 2-acetamido-2-deoxy residues.