A new synthetic approach toward bacterial transglycosylase substrates, Lipid II and Lipid IV.

A new synthetic approach toward the bacterial transglycosylase substrates, Lipid II (1) and Lipid IV (2), is described. The key disaccharide was synthesized using the concept of relative reactivity value (RRV) and elaborated to Lipid II and Lipid IV by conjugation with the appropriate oligopeptides and pyrophosphate lipids. Interestingly, the results from our HPLC-based functional TGase assay suggested Lipid IV has a higher affinity for the enzyme than Lipid II.