Synthesis of S-linked thiooligosaccharide analogues of Nod factors: synthesis of new protected thiodisaccharide and thiotrisaccharide intermediates

We are investigating the synthesis of thioanalogues of nodulation factors that will be resistant to degradation by chitinases. To study the influence of our protecting group strategy, the glycosylation of 1,6-anhydro-2-azido-3-O-benzyl-2-deoxy-beta-D-glucopyranoside (7) with two trichloroacetimidate glycosyl donors carrying an azido group at C-2. and either benzyl or benzoyl protecting groups on O-3 and O-4 was first attempted under catalysis with BF3.Et2O in toluene. While glycosylation with the benzoylated glycosyl donor gave only a poor yield (27%) of the disaccharide, a similar reaction with the benzylated donor gave the corresponding disaccharide in good yield (77%). Although both products were obtained as anomeric mixtures, the benzylated donor led to improved stereoselectivity in favor of the desired beta-anomer (alpha:beta 3:7). Based on these results, a novel thiotrisaccharide was synthesized via the coupling of 7 with 6-O-acetyl-4-S-(3,4,6-tri-O-acetyl-2-benzyloxycarbonylamino-2-deoxy-beta-D-glucopyranosyl)2-azido-3-O-benzyl-2-deoxy-4-thio-alpha-D-glucopyranosyl trichloroacetimidate (25) also newly synthesized. After optimization of the reaction conditions, the desired thiotrisaccharide 4-O-[6-O-acetyl-4-S-(3,4,6-tri-O-acetyl-2-benzyloxycarbonylamino-2-deoxy-beta-D-glucopyranosyl)-2-azido-3-O-benzyl-2-deoxy-4-thio-beta-D-glucopyranosyl]-1,6-anhydro-2-azido-3-O-benzyl-2-deoxy-beta-D-glucopyranoside (26beta) was obtained in 57% yield. These conditions led to an anomeric mixture in favor of the desired beta-anomer (alpha:beta 1:4.7) that was separated from the alpha-anomer by normal-phase HPLC on a PrepNova Pack(R) silica gel cartridge. The work described here shows that thiodisaccharide glycosyl donors behave quite differently from the analogous O-disaccharide used previously to synthesize nodulation factors. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.