6-Azido-6-deoxy-l-idose as a Hetero-Bifunctional Spacer for the Synthesis of Azido-Containing Chemical Probes

The design of 6-azido-6-deoxy-l-idose for use as a hetero-bifunctional spacer is reported. The hemiacetal at one terminus is an equivalent of an aldehyde and can react with nucleophiles, such as amino groups and electron-rich aromatics. The azido group at the other terminus bio-orthogonally undergoes a Hüisgen [3+2] cycloaddition with an acetylene. The idose derivative exhibited a higher level of reactivity towards oxime formation than a corresponding glucose derivative. The¹³C NMR spectrum of the uniformly¹³C-labeled 6-azido-idose indicated that the acyclic forms of the sugar totaled 0.3 % of all the isomers, whereas those of glucose totaled 0.01 %. The larger population of the acyclic forms of the idose derivative would result in higher reactivity towards electrophilic addition in comparison with glucose derivatives. Finally, we prepared a C-idosyl epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) that bears an azido group through C-glycosylation of EGCG with 6-azido-idose. This glycosyl form of the C-idosyl EGCG exhibited a cytotoxicity against U266 cells that was comparable to that of EGCG. These results suggested that the EGCG derivative could be used as an effective chemical probe for the elucidation of EGCG biological functions.