Oligosaccharides polymer-supported

In addition, a novel fluorous support has been developed recently as an alternative to traditional polymer supports and applied successfully to oligosaccharide synthesis in combination with the trichloroacetimidate method [541]. Each intermediate in the fluorous oligosaccharide synthesis [542,543] could be obtained by simple fluorous-organic solvent extraction, and the reactions could be monitored by TLC, NMR and MS, in contrast to solid-phase reactions. Moreover, the new liquid-phase technique is anticipated to be easily applicable to the large-scale synthesis. 

Scheme 1.6 The first approaches to oligosaccharide synthesis employing soluble polymer supports.

High selectivity and substrate specificity of glycosyl transferases make them valuable catalysts for special linkages in polymer-supported synthesis. There is, however, still a rather limited set of enzymes available to date, and the need to synthesize a variety of natural and non-natural oligosaccharides prevails. Particularly with regard to combinatorial approaches, chemical solid-phase oligosaccharide synthesis promises to meet the demands most effectively. 

These results demonstrate that O-glycosyl trichloroacetimidate-based oligosaccharide synthesis on solid support may eventually become a valuable alternative to solution-phase synthesis because useful experience is available for the selection of the polymer support and choice of the linker system and the glycosyl donor. Further standardization of the building blocks and the protective group pattern will finally provide the yields and the anomeric control in order to successfully plan automated syntheses of oligosaccharides also in a combinatorial manner. 

A drastically distinct use of a polymer support in oligosaccharide synthesis was devised in connection with p-methoxybenzyl (PMB)-assisted intramolecular... 

Scheme 9.1 Comparison of one-phase and two-phase polymer-supported synthesis of oligosaccharides. Continued next page.

Scheme 9.2 Comparison of polymer-supported synthesis of oligosaccharides between the attachment of a polymer to a glycosyl donor and a glycosyl acceptor.

Scheme 9.3 Polymer-supported synthesis of oligosaccharides employing a hydrophobic handle attached to the growing chain in the last step of the synthetic sequence. The handle permits separation of the majority of failure sequences accumulated during the synthesis.

Many other linkers besides those listed above have been developed for two-phase synthesis of oligosaccharides on insoluble supports, and it can be expected that at least some of them will be tested on soluble supports. It should be kept in mind that MPEG-supported syntheses can be easily scaled up therefore, any relationship between both types of polymer supports will be cooperative rather than mutually exclusive. Such linkers will most probably include dialkyl- or diaryl-silyl linkers,10,41 3 and linkers cleavable by photolysis such as the o-nitrobenzyl group and its modifications.44 16... 

Oligosaccharide syntheses employing enzymatic reactions would in principle greatly benefit from being performed on a polymer support since the support might effectively facilitate isolation of the final product. Presumably, a water-soluble polymeric support will be preferable to any insoluble support since reaction rates could otherwise become too slow. Glycosidases as synthetic enzymes would be the best candidates to study this type of the enzymic approach to oligosaccharide synthesis. 

Scheme 9.15 Further examples of oligosaccharides prepared using one-phase polymer-supported design.

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