Recent developments in oligosaccharide synthesis: tactics, solid-phase synthesis and library synthesis

Oligosaccharides, commonly found on the cell surfaces, are deeply involved in a variety of important biological functions, yet demanding difficulties synthesizing such structures limit the investigation of their functions. Technologies to chemically synthesize these oligosaccharides have dramatically advanced during the last two decades mainly due to the introduction of good anomeric leaving groups. In addition, tactical analyses have been addressed to enhance the overall efficiency of oligosaccharide synthesis. Based on the advancement of solution-phase chemistry, solid-phase technologies are being investigated in connection with the current trend of combinatorial chemistry and high throughput screening. This review summarizes the necessary solution-phase methodologies, the status of solid-phase synthesis of oligosaccharides, and combinatorial synthesis of oligosaccharide libraries.