Synthesis of novel exo-glycals designed as enzymes inhibitors

Carbohydrate-protein interactions are involved in key processes for life. A variety of enzymes involved in interactions with saccharides have been identified as targets for the development of therapeutic agents. The two main goals of this PhD proposal are : 1) the development of novel synthetic methodologies for the synthesis of electron-poor exo- glycals, an almost unexplored class of non-natural saccharides 2) their use as binding and mechanistic probes of important glycosyl processing enzymes. Within this context, we propose the use of electron-deficient exo-glycals as inhibitors or inactivators of enzymes involved in the cell wall biosynthesis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.