A series of novel haloglycolipids were synthesized based on Cu(i) catalyzed Huisgen's [3 + 2] cycloaddition reaction of diversely functionalized azides and alkynes, using a mixture of N-bromosuccinimide and Cu(i) halide as the halogen source. Since halogen atoms, like bromine and iodine, with a very high scattering power facilitate the solving of crystal structures, the title haloglycolipids could prove to be invaluable in structure-based drug design involving membrane proteins as targets. This journal is © the Partner Organisations 2014.