Automated Glycan Assembly of Xyloglucan Oligosaccharides

Xyloglucans (XGs) are the most prevalent class of hemicelluloses in the cell wall of higher plants. Despite their roles they in plant growth and development assessments of the time-dependence features of their structure-function relationships as well as their specificity in the interactions with xyloglucan-modifying enzymes remain to be firmly established. To this end, the availability of a molecular series of variants is required but the difficulties in extracting or synthesizing these molecules have limited the researchs so far.

Automated glycan assembly is emerging as a powerful tool for the facile and expedient generation of plant carbohydrate libraries. The article reports the automated synthesis of seven cellulose and xyloglucan oligosaccharides, using monosaccharides and disaccharide building blocks, including the synthesis of
oligosaccharides containing up to three α-xylosidic linkages.
These xyloglucans will be used as molecular probes to investigate the specificities of xyloglucan-acting enzymes and cell wall glycan-directed antibodies.