STRATEGIES FOR ONE-POT SYNTHESIS OF OLIGOSACCHARIDES

One-pot oligosaccharide synthesis refers to approaches by which one glycosyl building block is subjected to successive chemical reactions in the same flask without the need to purify the intermediates. Traditionally, oligosaccharide synthesis is carried out in a stepwise fashion. Upon the successful formation of a glycosidic linkage, further elongation of the glycan chain requires that the newly formed oligosaccharide is either deprotected to generate a new glycosyl acceptor or transformed into a new glycosyl donor by modifying its aglycone. Although many complex oligosaccharides have been assembled in this manner, the stepwise approach is tedious and time consuming due to the need for multiple protecting group adjustment and aglycone leaving group manipulation on oligosaccharide intermediates. In order to improve the overall synthetic efficiency, one-pot strategies have been designed. It can potentially improve the speed of the overall synthetic operations and increase reaction yields by reducing product loss due to purification.