Tunable Strategy for the Asymmetric Synthesis of Sulfoglycolipids from <i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i> To Elucidate the Structure and Immunomodulatory Property Relationships

We developed a versatile asymmetric strategy to synthesize different classes of sulfoglycolipids (SGLs) from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The strategy features the use of asymmetrically protected trehaloses, which were acquired from the glycosylation of TMS α-glucosyl acceptors with benzylidene-protected thioglucosyl donors. The positions of the protecting groups at the donors and acceptors can be fine-tuned to obtain different protecting-group patterns, which is crucial for regioselective acylation and sulfation. In addition, a chemoenzymatic strategy was established to prepare the polymethylated fatty acid building blocks. The strategy employs inexpensive lipase as a desymmetrization agent in the preparation of the starting substrate and readily available chiral oxazolidinone as a chirality-controlling agent in the construction of the polymethylated fatty acids. A subsequent investigation on the immunomodulatory properties of each class of SGLs showed how the structures of SGLs impact the host innate immunity response.