Convergent synthesis of a common pentasaccharide-repeating unit corresponding to the O-specific polysaccharide of Escherichia coli O4:K3, O4:K6, and O4:K12

A convergent chemical synthesis of a pentasaccharide found in the O-specific polysaccharide of Escherichia coli O4:K3, O4:K6, and O4:K12 has been achieved in excellent yield. A [3+2] block synthetic strategy has been adopted to couple a disaccharide donor 11 with a trisaccharide acceptor 10 for the construction of the pentasaccharide derivative 12 which on deprotection furnished target pentasaccharide 1 as its 4-methoxyphenyl glycoside. Disaccharide thioglycoside donor 11 and trisaccharide acceptor 10 were prepared from suitably protected monosaccharide intermediates. Yields were excellent in all steps.