Glycomonomers

Glycomonomers are monomers in which a carbohydrate moiety is covalently linked to a polymerizable group, enabling the integration of sugar functionality into polymer backbones or side chains. They are used to prepare glycopolymers that display multiple carbohydrate residues along a chain, providing surfaces or materials with specific biological recognition properties.

Common glycomonomer classes include glycosyl acrylates, glycosyl methacrylates, glycosyl acrylamides, and glycosyl vinyl ethers. These compounds are typically prepared by attaching a sugar derivative to a vinyl or acrylate/ methacrylate handle through a linker such as an amide or ester bond. Protection strategies are often employed to mask reactive hydroxyl groups during synthesis, with deprotection performed after polymerization to reveal native sugar functionalities.

Glycomonomers can be copolymerized with a wide range of monomers, including styrene, acrylates, methacrylates, and vinyl monomers, using conventional radical, controlled radical (RAFT), or living polymerization methods (e.g., ATRP, ROMP). This enables control over polymer architecture, molecular weight, and the density and distribution of carbohydrate units. Resulting glycopolymers find use in diverse materials contexts, from biocompatible hydrogels and coatings to sensor surfaces and drug delivery systems, where specific interactions with lectins, enzymes, or cell surface receptors are important.

Applications rely on the spatial arrangement and accessibility of the sugar moieties, as well as the overall polymer architecture and solubility. Challenges include maintaining sugar recognition under polymerization conditions, achieving uniform glycan display, and addressing solubility and purification concerns.