Facile Synthesis of the Pentasaccharide Repeating Unit of the Exopolysaccharide from Cryptococcus neoformans Serotype D

-D-GlcpA-(12)-[-D-Xylp-(12)--D-Manp-(13)]--D-Manp-(13)--D-Manp, the repeating unit of the exopolysaccharide from Cryptococcus neoformans serotype D, was synthesized as its 4-methoxyphenyl glycoside. The approach presented here also provides a route to the synthesis of more complex repeating units of glucuconoxylomannan (GXM) of C. neoformans serotypes A-C.