Transferase Activity of a β-Glycosidase fromThermus thermophilus: Specificities and Limits – Application to the Synthesis of β-[1→3]-Disaccharides

The aim of this paper is to test the ability of a β-glycosidase from Thermus thermophilus to catalyse transglycosylation reactions in the presence of nitrophenyl glycosides as donors and other monosaccharides as acceptors. Our results show that this enzyme is able to induce such reactions either with nitrophenylgalactosides, -glucosides and -fucosides. With the two former donors, the autocondensation of the donor, which thus acts also as an acceptor, is faster than the transglycosylation with other acceptors. Furthermore, as the regioselectivity of the reactions is mainly of the β-[1→3] type, good yields are obtained for the synthesis of 2-nitrophenyl-β-D-galactopyranosyl-[1→3]-β-D-galactopyranoside and 2-nitrophenyl-β-D-glucopyranosyl-[1→3]-β-D-glucopyranoside. Conversely, in the presence of p-nitrophenylfucoside, the autocondensation is very limited, and with methyl-α-D-galactoside as an acceptor, the regioselectivity is mainly of the β-[1→6]-type resulting in the synthesis of methyl-β-D-fucopyranosyl-[1→6]-α-D-galactopyranoside.