Enzymes as Catalysts in Carbohydrate Synthesis

The discovery of the myriad roles of carbohydrates in biological recognition phenomena has led to an increased demand for practical routes to gram-scale quantities of unnatural carbohydrate structures. We have investigated the applicability of enzymes as catalysts for mono-oligo-, and polysaccharide synthesis. Here, we review our progress in the area, in particular the use of aldolases for monosaccharide synthesis, the synthesis of the activated sugar nucleosides required for Leloir-pathway glycosidic bond formation, and the use of both Leloir-and non-Leloir-pathway enzymes for the synthesis of carbohydrate polymers.