The synthesis of well-defined heparin and heparan sulfate fragments.

ABSTRACT

Heparin and heparan sulfate are key players in a plethora of physiological processes. Organic synthesis is the method of choice for the production of these oligosaccharides and their derivatives and analogues. The highly complex structure of these polysaccharides presents a formidable synthetic challenge and the incorporation of the full array of variations in oligosaccharides of significant length is a daunting task. This review records the development of strategies to access these exciting biomolecules.