𝔖 Bobbio Scriptorium
✦   LIBER   ✦

A novel regioselective desulfation of polysaccharide sulfates: specific 6-O-desulfation with N,O-bis(trimethylsilyl)acetamide

✍ Scribed by Masayoshi Matsuo; Ryo Takano; Kaeko Kamei-Hayashi; Saburo Hara


Book ID
102991473
Publisher
Elsevier Science
Year
1993
Tongue
English
Weight
494 KB
Volume
241
Category
Article
ISSN
0008-6215

No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.

✦ Synopsis


Treatment of the pyridinium salts of glycosaminoglycans and galactan sulfates with N,O-bis(trimethylsilyl)acetamide (BTSA) in pyridine for 2 h at 60 "C caused specific 6-O-desulfation without depolymerisation or other chemical changes.

Introduction

Polysaccharide sulfates are present in most algal cell matrices, and those of animal origin are also well-known as mucopolysaccharides. Various methods for desulfation have been developed and one of the convenient methods involves dilute methanolic hydrogen chloride, as applied originally to chondroitin sulfate'. However, this method causes considerable depolymerisation and reduction in yield because of concomitant cleavage of glycosidic linkages. A better yield of the desulfated polysaccharides without serious decomposition can be obtained by solvolysis of the pyridinium salts in such aprotic solvents as methyl sulfoxide, N,N-dimethylformamide, and pyridine', or methyl sulfoxide containing a small amount of water or methano13-5. The mechanism of the reaction is envisaged as a reverse of sulfation. Another advantage of solvolytic desulfation is that selective N-desulfation can be achieved by careful control of the reaction conditions3. However, versatile regiospecific chemical methods of 0-desulfation are not known and sulfatases with any site specificity are rarely available. Therefore, the development of a method for specific 0-desulfation would be of value in the elucidation of the biological activity of sulfated carbohydrates.