Dextran repeating units

Isomaltose (a-1,6) Repeating Unit of Dextran Polymer Chains... 

The two polymers most often used in these applications are dextran and PEG. Both polymers consist of repeating units of a single monomer—glucose in the case of dextran and an ethylene oxide basic unit in the case of PEG. The polymers may be composed of linear strands (PEG or dextran) or branched constructs (dextran). An additional similarity is that both of them possess hydroxyl and ether linkages, lending hydrophilicity and water solubility to the molecules. Dextran and PEG can be activated through their hydroxyl groups by a number of chemical methods to allow... 

Dextran is a naturally occurring polymer that is synthesized in yeasts and bacteria for energy storage. It is mainly a linear polysaccharide consisting of repeating units of... 

Periodate oxidation. Aldehyde groups can be easily introduced in most polysaccharides by reaction with sodium periodate. Vicinal diol structures give rise to dialdehydes. For dextran (I) having three adjacent hydroxyl groups in each non-branched anhydro glucopyranoside repeat unit the oxidation is a two step reaction ... 

The complex-formation of polysaccharides with alkali metals and alkaline-earth metals has already been discussed in this Series. A dextran-iron complex has been used in the experimental therapy of synovitis, and chondroitin sulfate-iron colloids have been prepared. The swelling of cellulose in aqueous solutions of zinc chloride depends on the formation of a complex with the vicinal 2- and 3- hydroxyl groups of the repeating unit. ... 

Figure 3.12 Repeating units in some natural polymers of glucose, i.e. dextran and cellulose.

Scheme 9 shows possible repeat units for the reaction between zirconocene dichloride and dextran. The products will contain a mixture of monounsubstituted, dis-ubstituted, trisubstituted, and unsubstituted hydroxyl products. Unsubstituted repeat units, and fliose containing only cyclic zirconocene units, will not increase the amount of crosslinking or branching. However, the other repeat units shown in scheme 8 will increase the crossUnking and/or branching. Thus these products are all insoluble in all tested liquids. 

This type of polysaccharide elongation mechanism is known as an insertion mechanism in which the monomer residue or repeating unit is apparently inserted between the reducing end of the polysaccharide chain and a lipid pyrophosphate coenzyme carrier or an enzyme-protein carrier. Actually, it is not a real insertion, but rather the transfer of the polysaccharide chain from one carrier to the carbohydrate moiety of a monomer or repeating unit attached to another carrier (see Figs. 10.12A section 10.12 on dextran biosynthesis). 

The complete biosynthesis of xanthan, a water-soluble bacterial polysaccharide with a cellulose backbone (see Chapter 6, Fig. 6.18 for the structure), has been worked out by Dankert et al. [111-114]. The pentasaccharide repeating unit is attached to a polyprenol pyrophosphate lipid carrier [111], and the polymerization takes place by the addition of the repeating pentasaccharide from the polyprenol pyrophosphate pentasaccharide to the reducing end of the growing xanthan chain [114]. The mechanism of xanthan chain elongation is an insertion mechanism similar to those of murein. Salmonella 0-antigen, the dextrans, mutan, and alteman. 

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