Natural biopolymers have inspired the development of synthetic analogues – i.e. foldamers – capable of adopting defined conformations and forming programmable three-dimensional architectures. These compounds are mainly based on peptides and nucleic acids, that are well understood at the molecular level. The diversity, intrinsic chirality, and ability to generate hierarchical assemblies suggest that carbohydrates hold an even larger potential for the generation of three-dimensional structures. However, the complexity of carbohydrate synthesis and structural analysis have prevented access to synthetic carbohydrates capable of adopting defined geometries.
Within GLYGOFOLD we develop carbohydrate foldamers capable of 1) adopting rigid secondary structures and 2) assembling into supramolecular architectures. To achieve these goals, we address fundamental questions related to carbohydrate structure, design new methods to stabilize particular conformations, and we implement protocols for systematic structural analysis. To complete this ambitious project, we combine automated synthetic platforms and analytical techniques (i.e. NMR spectroscopy, electron microscopy, and single molecule imaging).
Our aim is to develop programmable carbohydrate architectures, which have the potential to open a new field of carbohydrate and supramolecular chemistry. Analogous to the birth of a new field after the discovery of peptide-based foldamers, carbohydrate foldamers could find applications in several areas, including material science, biology, and catalysis. Moreover, carbohydrate foldamers will expand our understanding of carbohydrate structures and interactions, and new analytical protocols will standardize the characterization of carbohydrate materials.
