“…In this context, as model hydrophobic tails to be attached at the 2-and 3-OH functions, we chose linear C11 hydrocarbon chains and tetra(ethylene glycol) (TEG) tails, thus providing a tetra-alkylated (type a), a tetra-polyether (type b), and a mixed dimer, containing one di-alkylated and one di-polyether-tailed sugar (type c), respectively. These hydrophobic residues, which in a fully extended conformation are, respectively, 15.4 15 and 17 16 Å long, were linked via stable ether bonds. In case a, this decoration was achieved by coupling the 4,6-benzylidene protected sugar 5 with 1-bromoundecane in the presence of NaH and NaI in DMF, giving 6a in 90% yields.…”