A chemoenzymatic synthon for carbohydrate synthesis

The top left shows a chemoenzymatic synthon easily accessible by chemical synthesis; it can be readily converted into complex carbohydrate analogs (bottom right) using the multi-enzyme synthetic method.
The top left shows a chemoenzymatic synthon easily accessible by chemical synthesis; it can be readily converted into complex carbohydrate analogs (bottom right) using the multi-enzyme synthetic method.

The Chen Glyco Group reported a new strategy for the synthesis of complex carbohydrates by designing a chemoenzymatic synthon (PMID: 29349857. Accepted article, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.201712022/abstract). The synthon is easily accessible by chemical synthesis. It can be enzymatically converted to carbohydrate analogs which are readily derivatized chemically to produce desired targets. The method expands the scope of chemoenzymatic synthetic products accessible by commercially available enzymes.