The
total synthesis of the oligosaccharide moiety of disialosyl
globopentaosylceramide (DSGb5 Cer), a dominant ganglioside isolated
from malignant renal cell carcinoma tissues, is reported. The synthetic
strategy relies on a chemical α(2,6)-sialylation at the internal
GalNAc unit of a Gb5 pentasaccharide backbone that furnishes a Neu5Acα(2,6)GalNAc-linked
hexasaccharide, suitable for an enzymatic α(2,3)-sialylation
of the terminal Gal residue to construct a heptasaccharide glycan.
Convergent access to this key α(2,6)-sialylated hexasaccharide
was also achieved through a [3+3] glycosylation building upon a Galβ(1,3)[Neu5Acα(2,6)]GalNAc-based
trisaccharide donor and a Gb3 acceptor. The synthetic DSGb5 glycan
bearing a 6-azidohexyl aglycon at the reducing end could undergo further
regioselective functionalization. This approach represents a viable
chemoenzymatic method for accessing complex ganglioside glycans and
should be useful for the synthesis and biological investigation of
DSGb5 derivatives.