An efficient synthesis of sialyllactosamine (SiaLacNAc) clusters using carbosilanes as core scaffolds has been accomplished by means of chemical and enzymatic approaches. N-Acetyl-D-glucosamine (GlcNAc) clusters having O-glycosidic linkage or S-glycosidic linkage were chemically synthesized from known intermediates in high yields. The GlcNAc clusters were first used as substrates for beta1,4 galactosyl transferase using UDP-galactose (UDP-Gal) as a sugar source to provide corresponding N-acetyllactosamine clusters. Further sugar elongation of the LacNAc clusters was demonstrated using alpha2,3 sialyl transferase and CMP-neuraminic acid (CMP-NANA) to yield the corresponding SiaLacNAc clusters.
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