The amide group in N-acetylglucosamine glycosyl acceptors affects glycosylation outcome

Glycosylation of a disaccharide containing N-acetylglucosamine with rhamnosyl and mannosyl trichloracetimidates under triethysilyl triflate catalysis led to the competitive formation of glycosyl imidates. While the rhamnosyl imidate could be rearranged to the thermodynamically favored trisaccharide, the mannosyl analogue was resistant to rearrangement. Glycosylation with perbenzylated thiorhamnosides activated with methyl triflate (MeOTf) gave the trisaccharide as well as the methyl imidate trisaccharide. The less reactive alpha-thioethyl donor led to a higher relative amount of methyl imidate trisaccharide to trisaccharide than the more reactive beta-thioglycoside. When using a more reactive thioethyl fucoside only the trisaccharide was obtained. Interestingly, the acceptor treated with MeOTf gave the N-methyl imidate that could be easily rhamnosylated and subsequently converted to the N-acetamido trisaccharide. This strategy to glycosylate O-4 of N-acetylglucosamine is under further investigation. Alternatively, bis-N-acetylation of the glucosamine prevented the formation of imidates and allowed the efficient synthesis of two Lewis A trisaccharide analogues.