Accelerating Oligosaccharide Synthesis: Microwaves and Automation
Nicola L. Pohl, PhD, Associate Professor, Iowa State University Department of Chemistry, Ames, IA

Ready access to oligosaccharides for immunological and other studies requires methods to accelerate the synthesis of this class of biopolymers. A fluorous-phase approach to automated iterative solution-phase synthesis will be presented in the context of the synthesis of a range of pathogen, mammalian, and plant-associated oligosaccharides. Given this new solution-phase automation strategy, microwave-assisted reactions have proven crucial to meeting the next challenge: shortening carbohydrate building block syntheses to <3 day operations.