A new methodology for the synthesis of fluorinated exo-glycals and their time-dependent inhibition of UDP-galactopyranose mutase

Chemistry. 2006 Apr 3;12(11):3114-23. doi: 10.1002/chem.200500991.

Abstract

Fluorinated carbohydrates constitute a very important class of mechanistic probes for glycosyl-processing enzymes. In this study, we describe the first synthesis of fluorinated and phosphonylated exo-glycals and their corresponding nucleotide sugars in the galactofuranose series. The synthetic protocol that we have developed is a Selectfluor-mediated fluorination/elimination sequence on phosphonylated exo-glycals, and it offers a new entry into fluorinated carbohydrate chemistry. The challenging E/Z stereochemical assignment of the resulting tetrasubstituted alkenes, which bear an alkoxy, an alkyl, a fluoro, and a phosphonyl group, has been achieved through NMR experiments. The corresponding (E)- and (Z)-nucleotide fluorosugars have been prepared and tested as inhibitors of UDP-galactopyranose mutase (UGM). UGM is a flavoenzyme that catalyzes the isomerization of uridine diphosphate(UDP)-galactopyranose into UDP-galactofuranose, a key step of the biosynthesis of important mycobacterial cell-wall glycoconjugates. The two diastereomeric molecules were found to display time-dependent inactivation of UGM, as expected from preliminary results using non-fluorinated exo-glycal nucleotides. The inhibitory properties of the two fluorinated molecules led us to suggest that the inactivation mechanism proceeds through two-electron processes, despite the presence of the flavin cofactor within the UGM catalytic site.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Fluorine / chemistry*
  • Galactose / chemistry*
  • Intramolecular Transferases / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Nucleotides / chemical synthesis*
  • Nucleotides / pharmacology

Substances

  • Nucleotides
  • Fluorine
  • Intramolecular Transferases
  • UDP-galactopyranose mutase
  • Galactose