For the construction of N-glycoprotein glycan chains, valuable potential glycosyl donors, O-alpha-D-mannopyranosyl-(1-->2)-alpha-D-mannopyranose octaacetate (19) and O-alpha-D-mannopyranosyl-(1-->2)-O-alpha-D-mannopyranosyl-(1-->2)-alpha-D-mannopyranose undecaacetate (20) were obtained in gram-scale by the acetylation and subsequent partial acetolysis of baker's yeast, without the isolation of mannan. The acetolytic products were investigated by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry. Octaacetates of mannobiose (1-->3) (11) and (1-->6) (17) were chemically synthesized.
Synthesis of linear d-mannotetraose and d-mannohexaose, partial structures of the cell-surface d-mannan of Candida albicans and Candida utilis