Reaction on d-glucal by an inverting phosphorylase to synthesize derivatives of 2-deoxy-β-d-arabino-hexopyranosyl-(1→4)-d-glucose (2II-deoxycellobiose)

Four derivatives of 2II-deoxycellobiose were synthesized from d-glucal and acceptor sugars (d-glucose, d-xylose, d-mannose, and 2-deoxy-d-arabino-hexose) using a cellobiose phosphorylase from Cellvibrio gilvus. The enzyme was found to be an effective catalyst to synthesize the β-(1→4) linkage of 2-deoxy-d-arabino-hexopyranoside. The acceptor specificity for the d-glucal reaction was identical to that for the α-d-glucose 1-phosphate reaction, but the activity of d-glucal was approximately 500 times less than that of α-d-glucose 1-phosphate, using 10 mM substrates.