Synthesis of Fullerene Glycoconjugates via a Copper-Catalyzed Huisgen Cycloaddition Reaction

The synthesis of fullerene-carbohydrate conjugates using a copper-catalyzed [3+2] cycloaddition reaction to facilitate the union of an azido-functionalized sugar and a pentaalkynyl[60]fullerene is straightforward. Thus, fullerenes bearing five oligosaccharides such as Gb3-trisaccharide can be readily accessed. Nanometer-scale molecular architectures presenting as many as 15 sugar moieties in C5-symmetry are readily produced. The cycloaddition reaction proceeds quantitatively under mild conditions without the need to protect the sugar hydroxyl groups.