A hydrolytically stable carbon analogue of the Tn antigen (GalNAc alpha1-O-
Ser) has been efficiently synthesized employing a Wittig-Horner reaction of
C-linked aldehyde 3 with glycine derived phosphonate 4, followed by asymme
tric hydrogenation of the 2-acetamido-sugar residue containing alpha -acyla
minoacrylate 5.