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Updated: Jul 7, 2026

Comprehensive Compositional Analysis of Plant Cell Walls (Lignocellulosic biomass) Part II: Carbohydrates
Published on: March 12, 2010
Synthesis of a hexasaccharide repeating unit from Bacillus anthracis vegetative cell walls
Matthias A Oberli1, Pascal Bindschädler, Daniel B Werz
1Laboratory for Organic Chemistry, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland.
Abstract:
The first synthesis of hexasaccharide 1 representing a repeat unit of a polysaccharide specific to the vegetative cell wall of Bacillus anthracis is reported. The synthetic hexasaccharide is equipped with an n-pentenyl handle at the reducing terminus to allow for further functionalization. Key transformations during the synthesis are the conversion of a glucose into a mannosazide residue, a (2+2) coupling, followed by double alpha-galactosylation to furnish the hexasaccharide, and global deprotection under Birch conditions.
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