Polysaccharides: Systheses, Modifications and Structure/Property Relations (Studies in Organic Chemistry)

This book provides the most up-to-date and comprehensive coverage of the structures and properties of polysaccharides, methods for their characterization, de novo synthesis, and modification, as well as advances in structure/function correlations. Many of these topics are summarized for the first time. A brief survey of polysaccharide structures is given highlighting the most significant advances in analytical and spectroscopic technology (NMR, MS, etc.). A chapter is devoted to glycan properties, including conformational aspects, rheological and compatibility characteristics, etc. There is a comprehensive overview of the de novo synthesis of carbohydrate polymers, the transformation of glycans into novel types of polymers, and the preparation of linear and branched polysaccharide analogues and conjugates with synthetic polymers via chemical and enzymatic approaches. The book also details the factors controlling the uniformity of substitutions in homogeneous and heterogeneous derivatization processes and the elucidation of the substitution patterns of partially modified polysaccharides, through combined spectroscopic and statistical methods.