Organic Chemistry Seminar: Stirring the glycan synthesis and application pots

Abstract:

Glycans are complex biopolymers. Although made of repeating monomeric units, they are structurally very diverse. Synthesizing glycans is a lengthy, expensive and tedious process. There is currently no common way to synthesize glycans, hence they are prepared on a small scale via a meticulous multistep process. Utilizing such small quantities for biological studies without increasing the synthesis load is very challenging hence there is also a shortage of strategies that can provide quantitative input on glycan interaction preferences.

The talk will focus on our approach to facilitating the synthesis of glycans and on a new line of glycan-based biosensors. I will show how we automate the glycosylation optimization process to improve the conditions for synthesizing complex glycans. I will describe how we exploit stirring both to accelerate the synthesis of glycans on the solid support and to enhance photocleavage. I will explain how electrochemical and surface chemistry methods complement each other to provide insights into glycan interaction preferences.
 

Event Organizer: Dr. Muhammad Jbara