Recent Advances in Glycopolymers Based on Protecting-Group-Free Synthesis

Glycopolymers, synthetic polymers with pendant saccharides, are one of glycomaterials developed as glycocluster molecules incorporating multivalent forms of saccharides. Recently, the research of glycopolymers has been become active again. Although many different glycopolymers have been reported, most synthetic methods require multiple laborious steps such as the protection and deprotection of hydroxy groups on the saccharide, making these synthetic approaches difficult to apply to oligosaccharides with higher molecular weight. The author developed synthetic methods of glycopolymers without the use of any protecting groups based on direct activation of free saccharides. This paper describes the protecting-group-free syntheses of glycopolymers from free saccharides including sialyloligosaccharides, and reviews the binding assays of glycopolymers with lectins and influenza viruses.