Chemical Synthesis of Polysaccharides by Ring-Opening Polymerization

Abstract

Synthesis of polysaccharides by ring-opening polymerization of anhydro-sugar derivatives is reviewed. Ring-opening polymerizations of various anhydro-sugar derivatives give many kinds of polysaccharides. Polymerization mechanism and the polymer structure depend on the monomer structure and polymerization conditions. For example, in the polymerization of 1, 4-anhydro-sugar derivatives, the D-ribose monomer affords a stereoregular (1→4) -β-D-ribopyranan and a stereoregular (1→5) -α-D-ribofuranan, while the L-arabinose monomer is not polymerized stereoregularly. Most of 1, 6-anhydro-sugar derivatives are polymerized with cationic catalysts at low temperatures, giving highly stereoregular polysaccharides some of which have a functional group regioselectively. Synthetic polysaccharides are expected to reveal some physiological activities.