Natural Precision in Carbohydrates

Abstract

Nature provides us with a variety of carbohydrate structures including low and high molecular weight materials, homopolymers and copolymers, linear and branched materials. The present “big three” of the carbohydrates, cellulose, starch and sucrose, reflect the importance of glucose-based materials. It is to be expected, however, that natural fructans, like inulin, will receive increasing attention in the near future. Consequently fructose will become available as a non-expensive base chemical.

The last decades rapid developments took place in:

• insight in the bio-action of carbohydrates,

  analysis of carbohydrates and their derivatives,

  bio- and chemo-catalytic conversion techniques of carbohydrates.

Some established and a number of potential applications of carbohydrates as organic raw material will be mentioned. Opportunities are manifold in the areas of bio-active chemicals and of detergency. Another promising field is that of the biodegradable polymers. Moreover carbohydrates furnish chiral building blocks which are and will be very useful in the synthesis of stereo-pure agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals. As an example the growing conversion network of L-(+)- lactic acid will be shown.

Altogether an increasing role of carbohydrates in design, preparation and use of precision chemicals is to be expected.

Obviously carbohydrates are biodegradable but insight and knowledge is required in how far this also holds for carbohydrate derivatives.