High-affinity ligands for the asialoglycoprotein receptor, which is uniquely localized on the parenchymal liver cell and recognizes oligoantennary galactosides, might be utilized as homing device to specifically target drugs or genes to parenchymal liver cells. In the present study, the synthesis of galactose-terminated triantennary glycosides, provided with various spacers between the beta-galactopyranosyl moieties and the branching point of the dendrite, is described. N-[Tris[[(methylthio)methoxy]methyl]methyl]-N alpha-[1-(6- methyladipy)]glycinamide (3b) was glycosylated with monogalactosyl derivatives, containing propanediol or ethylene glycol units as hydrophilic spacer moieties, to yield the corresponding cluster galactosides. To determine the affinity of the cluster galactosides for the asialoglycoprotein receptor, we have performed competition studies of [125I]ASOR binding, a specific ligand for the asialoglycoprotein receptor, to isolated parenchymal cells. The affinity for the asialoglycoprotein receptor significantly increased with increasing spacer length. N-[[[Tris-O-(beta-D-galactopyranosyl)-3,6,9-trioxaunde- canoxy]methoxy]methyl]-N-alpha-[1-(6-methyladipyl)]glycinami de (4e), a cluster galactoside provided with a 20 A spacer, possessed an at least 2000-fold higher affinity for the receptor than N-[[tris-O-(beta-D-galactopyranosyl)methyl]methyl]-N alpha-[1-(6- methyladipyl)]glycinamide (4a), a cluster galactoside lacking the spacer. It is concluded that vicinal galactosyl moieties within a cluster galactoside are more optimal recognized by the galactose binding sites of the asialoglycoprotein receptor upon proper spacing. The most potent galactoside, TG(20A), may constitute an attractive targeting device for the specific delivery of drugs and/or genes to the parenchymal liver cell.