Synthesis of mimetic peptides containing glucosamine

A convenient synthesis of 2-amino-3,4,6-tri-O-benzyl-2-deoxy-β-d-glucopyranoside was described from the readily available starting material 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-d-glucose (N-acetyl-d-glucosamine). Herein, the coupling of different lipophilic amino acids with 2-amino-3,4,6-tri-O-benzyl-2-deoxy-β-d-glucose was reported via an amide linkage as useful building blocks for the synthesis of glycopeptides. Of particular interest, bioactive peptide Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) was incorporated into the building block containing valine was also reported. The 15 examples of corresponding di-, tri- and tetra-peptides were obtained as single αanomers.