Chemo-enzymatic synthesis of xylogluco-oligosaccharides and their interactions with cellulose

A novel class of complex oligosaccharides with a backbone made of twelve beta-(1 -> 4)-D-glucosyl units that may be regularly substituted on their primary position with alpha-D-xylosyl or beta-D-(1 -> 2)-galactosyl-alpha-D-xylosyl residues were readily synthesized using enzymatic hydrolysis of the plant polysaccharide xyloglucan (XG), followed by chemical modifications of the well-defined oligosaccharides and their enzymatic coupling catalyzed by the Cel7B E197A glycosynthase from Humicola insolens. These complex oligosaccharides proved useful for a better understanding of the effects of structural variation of xyloglucan on interactions with bacterial microcrystalline cellulose (BMCC). (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.