SYNTHESIS OF N‐ACETYL‐MURAMYL‐l‐ALANYL‐d‐GLUTAMIC‐α‐AMIDE(MDP) OR ‐α‐METHYL ESTER DERIVATIVES, BEARING A LIPOPHILIC GROUP AT THE C‐TERMINAL PEPTIDE END

We report the synthesis of nine lipophilic derivatives of N-acetyl-muramyl-L-alanyl-D-glutamic-alpha-amide (MDP) or -alpha-methyl ester in which the gamma-carboxyl function of the D-glutamyl residue is either esterified by a medium chain alcohol or substituted by an L-alanyl residue esterified by a medium or long chain alcohol. A new method is described which easily allows one to obtain derivatives of MDP, bearing a free or substituted amino-acyl or peptidyl residue on the gamma-carboxyl function.