Polysaccharides importance

Structural polysaccharides Important constituents of plant cell wall. 

Monosaccharide units derived from oxidised or reduced sugars are important components of polysaccharides. The most important deoxy sugars are L-rhamnose (6-deoxy-L-mannose) and L-fucose (6-deoxy-L-galactose). Uronic acids are sugars in which the 6 position has been formally oxidised to a carboxylic acid, and form the major basis for anionic polysaccharides. Important... 

An important group of enzymatically derived polymers is polyesters. In nature, they hold the fourth place after the three major biomacromolecules (nucleic acids, proteins, and polysaccharides). Important polyesters are poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), poly(butylene succinate) (PBS), poly(e-caprolactone) (poly(e-CL)), and poly(lactic acid) (PLA) (see Fig. 3.40). The former two are industrially produced via polycondensation and the latter two via ROP. Additionally, enzymes can be used to hydrolyze ester bonds, which offers the possibility to recycle commercially used materials, for example, PET [52]. 

Carbohydrates may be divided into monosaccharides, disaccharides and polysaccharides. The monosaccharides under certain conditions react as polyhydroxy-aldehydes or polyhydroxy-ketones two important representatives are glucose CjHjjO (an aldose) and fructose (laevulose) CgHuO, (a ketose). Upon hydrolysis di- and polysaccharides 3deld ultimately monosaccharides. Common disaccharides are sucrose, lactose and maltose (all of molecular formula C,2H2. 0,), whilst starch, dextrin and cellulose, (CjHjoOj), in which n > 4, are typical polysaccharides. 

As examples of natural polymers, we consider polysaccharides, proteins, and nucleic acids. Another important natural polymer, polyisoprene, will be considered in Sec. 1.6. 

Tables 1 and 2 Hst the important physical properties of formamide. Form amide is more highly hydrogen bonded than water at temperatures below 80°C but the degree of molecular association decreases rapidly with increa sing temperature. Because of its high dielectric constant, formamide is an excellent ionizing solvent for many inorganic salts and also for peptides, proteias (eg, keratin), polysaccharides (eg, cellulose [9004-34-6] starch [9005-25-8]) and resias.

Plant stmctural material is the polysaccharide cellulose, which is a linear P (1 — 4) linked polymer. Some stmctural polysaccharides iacorporate nitrogen iato thek molecular stmcture an example is chitin, the material which comprises the hard exoskeletons of kisects and cmstaceans. Chitki is a cellulose derivative whereki the OH at C-2 is replaced by an acetylated amino group (—NHCOCH ). Microbial polysaccharides, of which the capsular or extracellular (exopolysaccharides) are probably the most important class, show more diversity both ki monomer units and the nature of thek linkages. 

Most carbohydrates exist in the form of polysaccharides. Polysaccharides give stmcture to the cell walls of land plants (cellulose), seaweeds, and some microorganisms and store energy (starch in plants and glycogen in animals). They are important in the human diet and in many commercial apphcations. 

Most free pentoses, hexoses, and heptoses occur primarily in less strained pyranose rings, but the furanose ring is also quite important. The furanose ring is formed in the same way as the pyranose ring and also occurs in a and P forms. This is demonstrated with L-arabinose, which is commonly found in polysaccharides in the form of a-L-arabinofuranosyl units (see Fig. 2). 

It has been estimated that >90% of the carbohydrate mass in nature is in the form of polysaccharides. In living organisms, carbohydrates play important roles. In terms of mass, the greatest amounts by far are stmctural components and food reserve materials, in that order and both in plants. However, carbohydrate molecules also serve as stmctural and energy storage substances in animals and serve a variety of other essential roles in both plants and animals. 

An important characterization parameter for ceUulose ethers, in addition to the chemical nature of the substituent, is the extent of substitution. As the Haworth representation of the ceUulose polymer shows, it is a linear, unbranched polysaccharide composed of glucopyranose (anhydroglucose) monosaccharide units linked through thek 1,4 positions by the P anomeric configuration. 

Molecular Interactions. Various polysaccharides readily associate with other substances, including bile acids and cholesterol, proteins, small organic molecules, inorganic salts, and ions. Anionic polysaccharides form salts and chelate complexes with cations some neutral polysaccharides form complexes with inorganic salts and some interactions are stmcture specific. Starch amylose and the linear branches of amylopectin form inclusion complexes with several classes of polar molecules, including fatty acids, glycerides, alcohols, esters, ketones, and iodine/iodide. The absorbed molecule occupies the cavity of the amylose helix, which has the capacity to expand somewhat to accommodate larger molecules. The starch—Hpid complex is important in food systems. Whether similar inclusion complexes can form with any of the dietary fiber components is not known. 

Among the aldopentoses, D-ribose is a component of many biologically important substances, most notably the ribonucleic acids, and D-xylose is very abundant and is isolated by hydrolysis of the polysaccharides present in corncobs and the wood of trees. 

Storage polysaccharides are an important carbohydrate form in plants and animals. It seems likely that organisms store carbohydrates in the form of polysaccharides rather than as monosaccharides to lower the osmotic pressure of the sugar reserves. Because osmotic pressures depend only on numbers of molecules, the osmotic pressure is greatly reduced by formation of a few polysaccharide molecules out of thousands (or even millions) of monosaccharide units. 

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