Polysaccharides are complex molecules that contain multiple reactive sites, each of which is chemically non-equivalent to the others. They also tend to be relatively poorly soluble and unreactive, therefore often requiring harsh conditions to convert them to desired derivatives. These harsh conditions are not particularly conducive to chemo- or regioselectivity. This is unfortunate, since the few cases in the literature where high regioselectivity has been achieved have clearly shown the powerful influence of position of substitution upon material properties (including solubility, crystallinity, glass transition temperature, colligative properties, optical properties). Therefore regioselective substitution is an important and underexplored frontier in polysaccharide chemistry. We will report our work on regioselective synthesis of derivatives of cellulose and other polysaccharides, as well as some of their interesting property/positional substitution relationships.

Regioselective synthesis of polysaccharide derivatives

251st National Meeting (2016)

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