Toward the Synthesis of Large Oligosaccharide-Based Dendrimers

Reductive amination of suitably functionalized trisaccharides allows for the efficient construction of nanometer-scale oligosaccharide dendrons with minimal use of protecting groups. Branched oligosaccharides, such as these, should prove useful as scaffolds for the multivalent display of large biomolecules. The picture shows the molecular model of a first-generation dendrimer with a trivalent benzeneoid core.