S-benzoxazolyl as a stable protecting moiety and a potent anomeric leaving group in oligosaccharide synthesis

Hydrolysis of Glycosyl Thioimidates by Glycoside Hydrolase Requires Remote Activation for Efficient Activity

Chemoenzymatic synthesis of glycosides relies on efficient glycosyl donor substrates able to react rapidly and efficiently, yet with increased stability towards chemical or enzymatic hydrolysis. In this context, glycosyl thioimidates have previously been used as efficient donors, in the case of hydrolysis or thioglycoligation. In both cases, the release of the thioimidoyl aglycone was remotely activated through a protonation driven by a carboxylic residue in the active site of the corresponding enzymes. A recombinant glucosidase (DtGly) from Dictyoglomus themophilum, previously used in biocatalysis, was also able to use such glycosyl thioimidates as substrates. Yet, enzymatic kinetic values analysis, coupled to mutagenesis and in silico modelling of DtGly/substrate complexes demonstrated that the release of the thioimidoyl moiety during catalysis is only driven by its leaving group ability, without the activation of a remote protonation. In the search of efficient glycosyl donors, glycosyl thioimidates are attractive and efficient. Their utility, however, is limited to enzymes able to promote leaving group release by remote activation.

Chemical O-Glycosylations: An Overview

The development of glycobiology relies on the sources of particular oligosaccharides in their purest forms. As the isolation of the oligosaccharide structures from natural sources is not a reliable option for providing samples with homogeneity, chemical means become pertinent. The growing demand for diverse oligosaccharide structures has prompted the advancement of chemical strategies to stitch sugar molecules with precise stereo- and regioselectivity through the formation of glycosidic bonds. This Review will focus on the key developments towards chemical O-glycosylations in the current century. Synthesis of novel glycosyl donors and acceptors and their unique activation for successful glycosylation are discussed. This Review concludes with a summary of recent developments and comments on future prospects.

Glycosyl alkoxythioimidates as building blocks for glycosylation: a reactivity study

Structural modifications of the leaving group of S-glycosyl O-methyl phenylcarbamothioates (SNea) involving change of substituents that express different electronic effects led to a better understanding of how the reactivity of these glycosyl donors can be modified by changing the structure of their leaving groups. Mechanistic studies involving the isolation of departed aglycones were indicative of the direct activation of both p-methoxy-SNea and p-nitro-SNea leaving groups via the anomeric sulfur rather than the remote nitrogen atom. The presence of an electron donating substituent (p-methoxy) has a strong effect on the nucleophilicity of the sulfur atom that becomes more susceptible toward the attack of thiophilic reagents, in particular. This key observation allowed to differentiate the reactivity levels of p-methoxy-SNea versus p-nitro-SNea and even unmodified SNea leaving groups. The reactivity difference observed in the series of SNea leaving groups is sufficient to be exploited in expeditious oligosaccharide synthesis via selective activation strategies.

O-Benzoxazolyl imidates as versatile glycosyl donors for chemical glycosylation

Herein, we report a new class of glycosyl donors, benzoxazolyl imidates, for chemical glycosylation. The O-benzoxazolyl (OBox) leaving group was designed with an aim to compare the relative reactivity and stability of similarly structured S-benzoxazolyl (SBox) glycosides (thioimidates) developed in our lab and glycosyl trichloroacetimidates (TCAI, O-imidates) developed by Schmidt. Novel OBox donors can be activated under catalytic conditions and provided excellent yields in glycosylation. The OBox imidates were found to be more reactive than either SBox or TCAI donors. The high reactivity profile was confirmed in direct competitive experiments and was found beneficial for HPLC-assisted solid-phase synthesis.

Reactive thioglucoside substrates for β-glucosidase

A new, very efficient, class of thioglycoside substrates has been found for β-glucosidase. While thioglycosides are usually resistant to hydrolysis, even in the presence of acids or most glycohydrolases, the β-D-glucopyranosides of 2-mercaptobenzimidazole (GlcSBiz) and 2-mercaptobenzoxazole (GlcSBox) have been found to be excellent substrates for β-glucosidase from both sweet almond (a family 1 glycohydrolase) and Aspergillus niger (a family 3 glycohydrolase), reacting nearly as well as p-nitrophenyl β-D-glucoside. The enzyme-catalyzed hydrolysis of GlcSBiz proceeds with retention of configuration. As with the (1000-fold slower) hydrolysis of phenyl thioglucosides catalyzed by the almond enzyme, the pL (pH/pD)-independent kcat/KM does not show a detectable solvent deuterium kinetic isotope effect (SKIE), but unlike the hydrolysis of phenyl thioglucosides, a modest SKIE is seen on kcat [(D2O)kcat=1.28 (±0.06)] at the pL optimum (5.5≤pL≤6.6). A solvent isotope effect is also seen on the KM for the N-methyl analog of GlcSBiz. These results suggest that the mechanism for the hydrolysis of the β-thioglucoside of 2-mercaptobenzimidazole and of 2-mercaptobenzoxazole involves remote site protonation (at the ring nitrogen) followed by cleavage of the thioglucosidic bond resulting in the thione product.

Expeditious oligosaccharide synthesis via selective, semi-orthogonal, and orthogonal activation

Traditional strategies for oligosaccharide synthesis often require extensive protecting and/or leaving group manipulations between each glycosylation step, thereby increasing the total number of synthetic steps while decreasing the efficiency of the synthesis. In contrast, expeditious strategies allow for the rapid chemical synthesis of complex carbohydrates by minimizing extraneous chemical manipulations. Oligosaccharide synthesis by selective activation of one leaving group over another is one such expeditious strategy. Herein, the significant improvements that have recently emerged in the area of the selective activation are discussed. The development of orthogonal strategy further expands the scope of the selective activation methodology. Surveyed in this article, are representative examples wherein these excellent innovations have been applied to the synthesis of various oligosaccharide sequences.

On orthogonal and selective activation of glycosyl thioimidates and thioglycosides: application to oligosaccharide assembly

Discrimination among S-thiazolinyl (STaz), S-benzoxazolyl (SBox), and S-ethyl anomeric leaving groups was achieved by fine-tuning activation conditions. Preferential glycosidation of a certain leaving group is determined neither by the strength of the activating reagent nor by the stability of the leaving group itself; instead, the type of activation plays the key role. The activation conditions established herein were applied to a sequential five-step synthesis of a hexasaccharide using six monosaccharide building blocks equipped with six different leaving groups.

Glycosyl alkoxythioimidates as complementary building blocks for chemical glycosylation

It is reported that S-glycosyl O-methyl phenylcarbamothioates (SNea carbamothioates) have a fully orthogonal character in comparison to S-benzoxazolyl (SBox) glycosides. This complete orthogonality was revealed by performing competitive glycosylation experiments in the presence of various promoters. The results obtained indicate that SNea carbamothioates have a very similar reactivity profile to that of glycosyl thiocyanates, yet are significantly more stable and tolerate selected protecting group manipulations. These features make the SNea carbamothioates new promising building blocks for further utilization in oligosaccharide synthesis.

On the stereoselectivity of glycosidation of thiocyanates, thioimidates, and thioglycosides

Comparative side-by-side glycosylation studies demonstrated that glycosyl thiocyanates, thioimidates, and thioglycosides provide comparative stereoselectivities in glycosylations. Very high α-stereoselectivity that was previously recorded for glycosyl thiocyanates can be achieved, but only if glycosyl acceptors are equipped with electron-withdrawing acyl substituents. Partially benzylated glycosyl acceptors provided relatively modest stereoselectivity, which was on a par with other common glycosyl donors. Accordingly, thioimidates and thioglycosides showed high stereoselectivity similarly to that of thiocyanates with different classes of acylated primary and secondary glycosyl acceptors.

Superarming common glycosyl donors by simple 2-O-benzoyl-3,4,6-tri-O-benzyl protection

A complementary concept for superarming glycosyl donors through the use of common protecting groups was previously discovered with S-benzoxazolyl (SBox) glycosyl donors. As this strategy can be of benefit to existing oligosaccharide methodologies, it has now been expanded to encompass a wide array of common, stable glycosyl donors. The versatility of this developed technique has been further illustrated in application to a sequential chemoselective oligosaccharide synthesis, wherein a superarmed ethyl thioglycoside was incorporated into the conventional armed-disarmed strategy.

Unexpected orthogonality of S-benzoxazolyl and S-thiazolinyl glycosides: application to expeditious oligosaccharide assembly

Thorough mechanistic studies of the alkylation pathway for the activation of glycosyl thioimidates have led to the development of the "thioimidate-only orthogonal strategy". Discrimination among S-thiazolinyl (STaz) and S-benzoxazolyl (SBox) anomeric leaving groups was achieved by fine-tuning of the activation conditions. Preferential glycosidation of a certain thioimidate is not simply determined by the strength of activating reagents; instead, the type of activation--direct vs indirect--comes to the fore and plays the key role.

Superarming the S-benzoxazolyl glycosyl donors by simple 2-O-benzoyl-3,4,6-tri-O-benzyl protection

The strategic placement of common protecting groups led to the discovery of a new method for "superarming" glycosyl donors. Conceptualized from our previous studies on the O-2/O-5 Cooperative Effect, it was determined that S-benzoxazolyl glycosyl donors possessing both a participating moiety at C-2 and an electronically armed lone pair at O-5, such as the superarmed glycosyl donor shown above, were exceptionally reactive.

Oligomannan synthesis using ionic liquid supported glycosylation

The synthesis of complex oligosaccharides has been a challenge for researchers. Herein, we describe a strategy for the synthesis of an activated oligomannan 1 that employs ionic liquid (IL) support glycosylation methodology on an IL-tagged mannosyl fluoride donor. This method is capable of rapidly producing linear alpha(1-->6) oligomannan thioglycosides in a convenient and cost-effective manner without the need of column purification after each glycosylation step.