2,5-Anhydro-d-Mannose End-Functionalized Chitin Oligomers Activated by Dioxyamines or Dihydrazides as Precursors of Diblock Oligosaccharides.

Diblock oligosaccharides based on renewable resources allow for a range of new but, so far, little explored biomaterials. Coupling of blocks through their reducing ends ensures retention of many of their intrinsic properties that otherwise are perturbed in classical lateral modifications. Chitin is an abundant, biodegradable, bioactive, and self-assembling polysaccharide. However, most coupling protocols relevant for chitin blocks have shortcomings. Here we exploit the highly reactive 2,5-anhydro-d-mannose residue at the reducing end of chitin oligomers obtained by nitrous acid depolymerization. Subsequent activation by dihydrazides or dioxyamines provides precursors for chitin-based diblock oligosaccharides. These reactions are much faster than for other carbohydrates, and only acyclic imines (hydrazones or oximes) are formed (no cyclic N-glycosides). α-Picoline borane and cyanoborohydride are effective reductants of imines, but in contrast to most other carbohydrates, they are not selective for the imines in the present case. This could be circumvented by a simple two-step procedure. Attachment of a second block to hydrazide- or aminooxy-functionalized chitin oligomers turned out to be even faster than the attachment of the first block. The study provides simple protocols for the preparation of chitin-b-chitin and chitin-b-dextran diblock oligosaccharides without involving protection/deprotection strategies.

The size and shape of three water-soluble, non-ionic polysaccharides produced by lactic acid bacteria: A comparative study.

Three water-soluble, non-ionic extracellular polysaccharides (EPS) obtained from lactic acid bacteria (S. thermophilus THS, L. helveticus K16 and S. thermophilus ST1) were subjected to a comparative study by means of multidetector size-exclusion chromatography, providing distributions and averages of molar masses, radii of gyration and intrinsic viscosities. All polysaccharides displayed random coil character. Further analysis of the data reveals differences in chain stiffness and extension that could be well correlated to structural features. The calculated persistence lengths ranged from 5 to 10nm and fall within the range typical for many single-stranded bacterial or plant polysaccharides. The ST1 polysaccharide had the highest molar mass but the lowest persistence length, which is attributed to the presence of the flexible (1→6)-linkage in the main chain.