A traceless photocleavable linker for the automated glycan assembly of carbohydrates with free reducing ends.

We report a traceless photocleavable linker for the automated glycan assembly of carbohydrates with free reducing ends. The reductive-labile functionality in the linker tolerates all commonly used reagents and protocols for automated glycan assembly, as demonstrated with the successful preparation of nine plant cell wall-related oligosaccharides, and is cleaved by hydrogenolysis.