Straightforward synthesis of Man9, the relevant epitope of the high-mannose oligosaccharide

Abstract

The high-mannose oligosaccharide (or its corresponding Man₉ epitope) is the most abundant structure present in pathogen envelope glycoproteins. These glycans play a key role in the pathogenesis of several pathogens and also in the communication with the immune system. Understanding the mechanism of action of these glycans requires the access to pure and chemically well-defined structures in reasonable amounts. The synthesis of these complex branched oligosaccharides is not trivial and few syntheses are reported in the literature with several synthetic and purification steps and low overall yields. In this work, we described a very efficient synthetic alternative to access this relevant Man₉ epitope in a very straightforward manner.