Synthesis of tetra- and hexasaccharide fragments corresponding to the O-antigenic polysaccharide of Klebsiella pneumoniae

The preparation of linear tetra- (1) and hexasaccharides (2), containing the repeating unit [→3)-β-Galf-(1→3)-α-Galp-(1→] present in the O-polysaccharide of the lipopolysaccharide of Klebsiella pneumoniae is described. The key step in their synthesis is the α-selective galactopyranosylation of 3-OH di- and tetrasaccharide acceptors (20 and 22) with a disaccharide trichloroacetimidate donor 19 in the presence of trimethylsilyl triflate in a diethyl ether–CH2Cl2 mixture as solvent.