Chemoenzymatic synthesis of trehalose analogues: rapid access to chemical probes for investigating mycobacteria.

Trehalose analogues are emerging as valuable tools for investigating Mycobacterium tuberculosis, but progress in this area is slow due to the difficulty in synthesizing these compounds. Here, we report a chemoenzymatic synthesis of trehalose analogues that employs the heat-stable enzyme trehalose synthase (TreT) from the hyperthermophile Thermoproteus tenax. By using TreT, various trehalose analogues were prepared quickly (1 h) in high yield (up to >99 % by HPLC) in a single step from readily available glucose analogues.