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Updated: Jul 14, 2026

High-throughput Synthesis of Carbohydrates and Functionalization of Polyanhydride Nanoparticles
Published on: July 6, 2012
Synthesis of hyperbranched carbohydrate polymers by ring-opening multibranching polymerization of anhydro sugar
Toshifumi Satoh1, Toyoji Kakuchi
1Division of Biotechnology and Macromolecular Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-8628, Japan. satoh@poly-bm.eng.hokudai.ac.jp
Abstract:
The synthesis of novel hyperbranched carbohydrate polymers, prepared by the ring-opening multibranching polymerizations of anhydro and dianhydro sugars, is described. The hyperbranched carbohydrate polymers were formed by the cationic polymerization of 1,6-anhydro-beta-D-hexopyranose, 1,4-anhydrotetritol, 2,3-anhydrotetritol, and 1,2:5,6-dianhydro-D-mannitol. These polymerizations proceeded without gelation to produce water-soluble hyperbranched carbohydrate polymers with controlled molecular weights and narrow polydispersities. The values for the degree of branching of the polymers were in the range of 0.28-0.50. The polymerization method, which proceeds through a ring-opening reaction by a proton-transfer reaction mechanism, is a facile method leading to a spherical carbohydrate polymer with a high degree of branching.
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