Synthetic Fragments of Antigenic Lipophosphoglycans fromLeishmania major andLeishmania mexicana and Their Use for Characterisation of theLeishmania Elongating ?-D-Mannopyranosylphosphate Transferase

The phosphorylated branched heptasaccharides 7 and 8, the octasaccharide 9 and the phosphorylated trisaccharides 5 and 6, which are fragments of the phosphoglycan portion of the surface lipophosphoglycans from Leishmania mexicana (5) or L. major (6-9), were synthesised by using the glycosyl hydrogenphosphonate method for the preparation of phosphodiester bridges. The compounds were tested as acceptor substrates/putative inhibitors for the Leishmania elongating alpha-D-mannosylphosphate transferase.