Enzymatic Synthesis of Polysaccharides: A New Concept in Polymerization Chemistry

Abstract

Various poly- and oligosaccharides such as cellulose, maltooligosaccharides, alternating 6-O-methylcellulose, and xylan have been prepared by the enzymatic polymerization of glycosyl fluoride monomers catalyzed by glycosidases like cellulase and amylase with perfect regioselectivity and stereoselectivity. By using the new architectural methodology of enzymatic polymerization technique, the metastable cellulose I with anti-parallel glucan chain structure was constructed in vitro for the first time. Based on these findings, a new concept of “choroselectivity” expressing the spacial direction control in ordering of macromolecular chains during polymerization has been proposed.