New thioglycoside derivatives for use in odourless synthesis of MUXFN-glycan fragments related to food allergens

Thioglycosides are valuable tools for complex oligosaccharides' constructions. They present precious advantages due to their stability and crystalline nature. However, their major drawbacks are the repulsive smell of thiols utilised as precursors and, often, their toxicity such as in case of the commonly employed thiophenol and thioethanol. The use of commercially available methyl tert-butyl phenyl thiol (MbpSH) avoids these problems and is compatible with gram scale synthesis of thioglycoside donors. In this paper, we describe that Mbp thioglycosides are useful and convenient precursors for odourless oligosaccharide synthesis and we further demonstrate, as a proof of their versatility, their use in the construction of most of the glycosidic linkages found in N-glycans.