In conjunction with efforts on the total synthesis of sandramycin, l quinaldopeptin, 2 BE22179, 3 and the luzopeptins, 4 symmetrical cyclic decadepsipeptides possessing a 2- fold axis of symmetry which exhibit highaffinity sequence-selective DNA binding with bisintercalation of the pendant heterocyclic chromophores, 5B6 we required access to suitably protected derivatives of the 3-hydroxyquinoline-2-carboxylic acids la and lb and ...