Polysaccharides chemical synthesis

Schuerch, C. The Chemical Synthesis and Properties of Polysaccharides of Biomedical Interest. Vol. 10, pp. 173-194. 

Ring-opening polymerization has played an important role in systematic approaches to the chemical synthesis of polysaccharides and the clarification of their biomedically interesting characteristics in relation to their own molecular structures. The early... 

The polymer 21 contains a reactive olefinic linkage in its repeating unit, and can be modified chemically in various manners. In particular, it is expected that the polymer can be used as a versatile precursor for the chemical synthesis of polysaccharide... 

The marked advances made in the study of bacterial polysaccharides serve only to emphasize the vast amount of work still to be carried out in this field. The recent remarkable achievements in enzymic chemical synthesis (starch, crystalline sucrose, etc.) indicate the growing necessity for greater cooperation11 between enzymologist and chemist in the solution of many biological phenomena. 

The chemical synthesis of polysaccharides which involves the generation of many glycosidic bonds to form one molecule has been reviewed recently... 

Over the past century, organic chemists attempting the chemical synthesis of specific polysaccharides have invariably obtained polymers having indefinite composition. However, a polysaccharide has now been synthesized which apparently possesses properties similar to that of naturally occurring cellulose.1 Synthesis has also been achieved1 of an apparently linear polysaccharide containing only (1 — 6)-linked ot-D-glucopyranosyl... 

This subject has been of continuing interest for several reasons. First, the present concepts of the chemical constitution of such important biopolymers as cellulose, amylose, and chitin can be confirmed by their adequate chemical synthesis. Second, synthetic polysaccharides of defined structure can be used to study the action pattern of enzymes, the induction and reaction of antibodies, and the effect of structure on biological activity in the interaction of proteins, nucleic acids, and lipides with polyhydroxylic macromolecules. Third, it is anticipated that synthetic polysaccharides of known structure and molecular size will provide ideal systems for the correlation of chemical and physical properties with chemical constitution and macromolecular conformation. Finally, synthetic polysaccharides and their derivatives should furnish a large variety of potentially useful materials whose properties can be widely varied these substances may find new applications in biology, medicine, and industry. 

Because the chemical synthesis of defined polysaccharides is in a crucial stage of its development, and because these synthetic polymers and their derivatives show definite signs of having application in the biological... 

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