Structure–Activity Relationship of Fluorinated Sialic Acid Inhibitors for Bacterial Sialylation

[Image: see text] Bacterial pathogens such as Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) can evade the immune system by taking up and presenting host-derived sialic acids. Herein, we report a detailed structure–activity relationship of sialic acid-based inhibitors that prevent the transfer of host sialic acids to NTHi. We report the synthesis and biological evaluation of C-5, C-8, and C-9 derivatives of the parent compound 3-fluorosialic acid (SiaNFAc). Small modifications are tolerated at the C-5 and C-9 positions, while the C-8 position does not allow for modification. These structure–activity relationships define the chemical space available to develop selective bacterial sialylation inhibitors.