Strategies for the synthesis of sequence-controlled glycopolymers and their potential for advanced applications

Abstract

Abstract Natural and largely abundant macromolecules such as carbohydrates have become a center point of interest for the polymer community, mostly due to their more environment-friendly nature and excellent capacity to bind to proteins found in the plant and animal reigns alike. The binding between saccharide units and proteins is key to plethora of biological events, therefore a fundamental understanding of this mechanism could open doors towards a new age of biomedical advances. Synthetic macromolecules bearing saccharide units (i.e., glycopolymers) are of particular interest because they can be produced on a controlled fashion with tailored molecular weight, structure, functionality and even sequencing. Vast improvements have been made for the fabrication of sequence-controlled glycopolymers, thanks in part to new monomer synthesis routes and to the recent developments in controlled polymerization techniques. This review article aims at providing the reader with a comprehensive guide on the synthesis of glycomonomers as well as on polymerization techniques for the production of block-type glycopolymers.