Ziegler–Natta catalysed polymerisation for the preparation of copolymers with pendant sucrose moieties

Natural sucrose esters: Perspectives on the chemical and physiological use of an under investigated chemical class of compounds

The present review describes the chemistry and physiological properties of the sucrose esters (SEs) obtained from natural or synthetic pathways, with emphasis on those that have aliphatic and phenylpropanoid substituents on their sucrose moiety. Synthesis, extraction and characterization methods for the SEs and NSEs are discussed in terms of synthetic procedures, separation techniques and spectroscopic methods. The physiological properties are discussed taking into account the nature of the substituent groups and their regiochemistry (position and number of substitutions) on the sucrose moiety.

Antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities of 1,2,3-triazole-sucrose derivatives

A library of 1-(1',2,3,3',4,4',6-hepta-O-acetyl-6'-deoxy-sucros-6'-yl)-1,2,3-triazoles have been investigated for their antibacterial, antifungal and cytotoxic activities. Most of the target compounds showed good inhibitory activity against a variety of clinically and food contaminant important microbial pathogens. In particular, 1-(1',2,3,3',4,4',6-hepta-O-acetyl-6'-deoxy-sucros-6'-yl)-4-(4-pentylphenyl)-1,2,3-triazole (5) was highly active against all the tested bacteria with minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) ranging between 1.1 and 4.4 µM and bactericidal concentrations (MBCs) from 2.2 and 8.4 µM. The compound 1-(1',2,3,3',4,4',6-hepta-O-acetyl-6'-deoxy-sucros-6'-yl)-4-(4-bromophenyl)-1,2,3-triazole (3) showed antifungal activity with MICs from 0.6 to 4.8 µM and minimal fungicidal concentrations (MFCs) ranging between 1.2 and 8.9 µM. Furthermore, some of the compounds possessed moderate cytotoxicity against human breast, lung, cervical and hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines, without showing toxicity for non-tumor liver cells. The above mentioned derivatives represent promising leads for the development of new generation of sugar-triazole antifungal agents.

Formation of spherical and core-shell polymeric microparticles from glycopolymers

6-O-methacryloyl-α-d-glucoside 2 and 4-bromophenyl-6-O-methacryloyl-d-glucothioside 7, obtained by enzyme-catalyzed synthesis, have been homo-polymerized and copolymerized with styrene by a free radical process, yielding polymer materials with sugar moieties, attached to the polymer backbone via ester linkages. The results demonstrated that modifying the structural features of the monomers greatly affected the thermal and rheological properties of the polymers. The polymer materials obtained have been characterized by NMR, MALDI-MS, DSC, AFM, and EWC (equilibrium water content). The AFM images indicated the formation of spherical and core-shell polymeric microparticles.

Synthesis of hydrophilic and amphiphilic acryl sucrose monomers and their co-polymerisation with styrene, methylmethacrylate and α- and β-pinenes

Herein, we report the synthesis of monomethacryloyl sucrose esters, and their successful free radical homo- and co-polymerisation with styrene, methylmethacrylate, α-and β-pinene. The chemical, physical, structural and surface chemical properties of these polymers, containing a hydrophobic olefin backbone and hydrophilic sugar moieties as side chains, have been investigated. Biodegradation tests of the copolymer samples by a microbial fungal culture (Aspergillus niger) method showed good biodegradability. The chemical structure and surface chemistry of the synthesized homo- and co-polymers demonstrate their potential technological relevance as amphiphilic and biodegradable polymers.