# Develop Catalytic Methods to Streamline the Assembly of Oligosaccharides

> **NIH NIH U01** · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · 2020 · $551,781

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
The carbohydrate synthesis is lagging far behind the current status of peptide and nucleotide synthesis. This is
not due to the lack of importance. In fact, carbohydrates are ubiquitous and play a vital role in many important
biological events. The development of efficient and selective chemical methods for the synthesis of
carbohydrates and their analogues is necessary for the understanding of the specific roles of carbohydrates
and for therapeutic development. Current carbohydrate synthesis requires extensive training and knowledge.
One has to think outside the box for transformative solutions that can enable non-experts in the biomedical
community to study carbohydrate structure and function. The two most essential issues in carbohydrate
synthesis are stereoselective glycosidic bond formation and differentiation of hydroxyl groups. In this proposal,
we will develop catalytic methods to address both issues and streamline the assembly of oligosaccharides. In
Aim 1, we propose to site-selectively functionalize hydroxyl groups in various monosaccharides in a
predictable, general, and systematic manner. These transformations will be used for streamlining the synthesis
of carbohydrate building blocks. Working models that can predict the site-selectivity in diverse carbohydrates
will be established with the help from computational chemists. In Aim 2, we propose to develop novel transition
metal-catalyzed cross-coupling glycosylation (CCG) to construct the glycosyl carbon-oxygen bond guided by
density functional theory calculations and published literature on cross-coupling reactions. The CCG will allow
us to assemble the stereochemically defined benchtop stable glycosyl donors and novel glycosyl acceptors
stereospecifically without any manipulation after glycosylation. Our proposed glycosylation methods are
innovative because they don’t involve the formation of the oxocarbenium ion, which often makes the current
glycosylation methods not completely stereoselective. The glycosyl donors and acceptors for CCG will be
derived from naturally occurring monosaccharides. Similar to all chemical methods, the CCG can also be used
for the synthesis of carbohydrate analogues. In Aim 3, we will demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed
methods in several iterative syntheses of bioactive bacterial and human glycans. The iterative synthesis only
involves one step of activation of glycosyl donors or acceptors and one step of CCG for the addition of any
monosaccharide unit. Glycosyl donors and acceptors without protecting the nonparticipating hydroxyl groups
can also be employed because of the unique feature of the CCG. The above proposed aims are significant
because they will yield readily available tools for anyone in the biomedical community including non-experts to
study carbohydrate structures and functions. The successful development of the proposed methods will place
the oligosaccharide synthesis close to the modern status of oligopeptide and oligonu...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9957116
- **Project number:** 5U01GM125290-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON
- **Principal Investigator:** Weiping Tang
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $551,781
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-08-10 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9957116

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9957116, Develop Catalytic Methods to Streamline the Assembly of Oligosaccharides (5U01GM125290-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9957116. Licensed CC0.

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