My Stroll in the Backyard of Carbohydrate Chemistry

The fields of Glycobiology and Glycotechnology are gaining an increasing a:mount of attention. A major part of my research has been directed at the synthesis and functional analysis of glycoconjugate oligosaccharides of various origins. In this mini-review, I wish to summarize my research history in carbohydrate chemistry of the last 12 years. Representative subjects have been 1) synthetic studies on Asn-linked glycan chains, 2) synthesis of novel glycoprotein structures, 3) approaches to polymer-support synthesis of oligosaccharides, 4) development of new reactions for the synthesis of glycoprotein-related molecules, 5) studies on the synthesis of glycoproteins, 6) analyses of glycoprotein processing and protein quality control system, 7) synthesis of glycosyltransferase inhibitors, 8) synthesis of biologically active glycolipids, and 9) synthesis and biological activities on mycobacterial cell wall components.