Solid-phase synthesis of serine-based glycosphingolipid analogues for preparation of glycoconjugate arrays

Synthetic glycolipids with defined structures are important tools in the study of glycolipid biology. In this paper we describe a solid-phase synthesis of three galactosylated serine-based glycosphingolipid analogues using the novel linker 2-fluoro-4-(hydroxymethyl)-phenoxyacetic acid. Gel-phase (19)F-NMR spectroscopy was used to measure the yield and stereochemical outcome of the solid-phase glycosylations. Under NIS-TfOH promotion, alpha- and beta-selective glycosylations were performed at room temperature with thioglycoside donors carrying fluorine labelled protective groups. Finally, the glycolipids were covalently linked to microtiter plates and labelled lectins with different selectivity for alpha- and beta-galactosides could bind to the glycolipid arrays.