Synthesis of a glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor bearing unsaturated lipid chains.

A GPI anchor bearing unsaturated fatty acid lipid chains (1) was synthesized by a highly convergent strategy employing the para-methoxybenzyl group for permanent hydroxyl protection. The final global deprotection was achieved by an efficient three-step, one-pot procedure to give an 81% isolated yield of the target structure.