Efficient Synthesis of 4-Amino-4-deoxy-L-arabinose and Spacer-equipped 4-Amino-4-deoxy-L-arabinopyranosides by Transglycosylation Reactions

Methyl 4-azido-4-deoxy-β-L-arabinopyranoside has been synthesized in five steps starting from methyl β-D-xylopyranoside in a multigram scale without chromatographic purification in 78% overall yield. The transformation relied on selective tosylation/nosylation at O-4 followed by acylation, S(N)2 displacement with sodium azide and subsequent deprotection. The methyl 4-azido-4-deoxy-arabinoside was then converted into allyl, propenyl, ω-bromohexyl and chlorethoxyethyl spacer glycosides by transglycosylation with the respective alcohols in good yields and fair anomeric selectivity. Reduction of the azido group and further transformations of the aglycon afforded ω-thiol-containing spacer derivatives. Coupling to maleimide-activated BSA provided a potent immunogen which was used to generate murine and rabbit polyclonal sera binding to LPS-core epitopes containing 4-amino-4-deoxy-arabinose residues.