"Click chemistry" en route to pseudo-starch

The application of click chemistry based on cycloaddition of substituted azide and alkynes to the synthesis of well-defined branched oligosaccharide related to starch was discussed. This modular approach allowed the construction of a number of [1,2,3]-triazole based analogues of amylopectin fragments in one simple coupling step. These analogues include two isomeric hexadecasaccharide analogues which have the potential for templating formation of double helixes between two parallel maltoheptaosyl chains attached to a core maltose unit. The results show that isomeric di-O-propargyl derivatives were synthesized starting from readily available maltose peracetate.