Reproducible and nondegradative preparation of sulfated molecules exhibiting diverse
biological properties requires caring out sulfation reactions under ready controlled mild conditions.
Although, to date, sulfur trioxide is the most used sulfation agent, its highly acid character has brought
its use in association with different nitrogen bases as sulfur trioxide−nitrogen base complexes and/or by
introduction of basic solvents as pyridine. We have applied sulfur trioxide and other sulfation agents
including protocols for the synthesis of biologically active sulfated polysaccharides and demonstrated
that these agents provoke cleavage of glycosidic bonds and other acid labile functions as amides, esters
and even ethers. These facts prompted us to develop new reaction conditions for a general and
nondestructive sulfation protocol. Our approach consists of the introduction of 2-methyl-2-butene as an
acid scavenger of neutral character. Application of the method leads to an efficient, reproducible, and
controlled synthesis of acid labile dextran derivatives well-known to be active in tissue repair and recently
proposed for example as a new therapeutic agent for prion diseases. A novel 1H NMR structural analysis
of this kind of macromolecules is presented. This method offers a new advance for more efficient synthesis
of biologically active sulfated macromolecules.
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