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

A novel class of complex oligosaccharides with a backbone made of twelve β-(1→4)-d-glucosyl units that may be regularly substituted on their primary position with α-d-xylosyl or β-d-(1→2)-galactosyl-α-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).