Author Description

Current research in carbohydrates is beginning to range across traditional divisions in chemistry and biology, giving rise to a new interdisciplinary field, glycoscience. The growing interest in glycoscience stems from the discovery that oligosaccharides play an important role in recognition events and from the growing demand for chiral synthesis, since sugars can provide an amazingly cheap source of chiralitiy. This book is the first unified treatment of glycoscience within the framework of organic chemistry. It also offers a wealth of supramolecular associations from carbohydrate chemistry. Unique among texts on carbohydrates, it devotes half of its content to important examples of such interactions.The book begins with a discussion of the configuration, conformation, derivatization, and modifications of monosaccharides. It includes examples of their use in total synthesis and a detailed discussion of the anomeric effect, the most popular of all stereoelectronic effects and a powerful tool for chemists. The next chapters focus on oligosaccharides. They cover the essentials of enzymic synthesis, with its high performances. One chapter is devoted to the sialic acids, now at the forefront of carbohydrate research. The authors describe a number of recognition reactions, among them the blood group phenomena, the interactions involving sialic acids, the active site of heparin, tumor markers and selectins. They also devote a chapter to the association of sugars with small molecules, notably with inorganic species. Throughout the book, great attention is given to practical details and experimental protocols involving unfamiliar techniques. The many tables, figures, diagrams and experimental protocols will help the reader visualize the great diversity of information.