Heparan sulfate (HS) is a complex, polyanionic polysaccharide ubiquitously expressed on cell surfaces and in the extracellular matrix. HS interacts with numerous proteins to mediate a vast array of biological and pathological processes. Inhibition of HS‐protein interactions is thus an attractive approach for new therapeutic development for cancer and infectious diseases, including COVID‐19; however, synthesis of well‐defined native HS oligosaccharides remains challenging. This has aroused significant interest in the development of HS mimetics which are more synthetically tractable and have fewer side effects, such as undesired anticoagulant activity. This account provides a perspective on the design and synthesis of different classes of HS mimetics with useful properties, and the development of various assays and molecular modelling tools to progress our understanding of their interactions with HS‐binding proteins.

1-Azasugar analogues of l-iduronic acid (l-IdoA) and d-glucuronic acid (d-GlcA) and their corresponding enantiomers have been synthesized as potential pharmacological chaperones for mucopolysaccharidosis I (MPS I), a lysosomal storage disease caused by mutations in the gene encoding α-iduronidase (IDUA). The compounds were efficiently synthesized in nine or ten steps from d-or l-arabinose, and the structures were confirmed by X-ray crystallographic analysis of key intermedi-ates. All compounds were inactive against IDUA, although l-IdoA-configured 8 moderately inhibited β-glucuronidase (β-GLU). The d-GlcA-configured 9 was a potent inhibitor of β-GLU and a moderate inhibitor of the endo-β-glucuronidase heparanase. Co-crystallization of 9 with heparanase revealed that the endocyclic nitrogen of 9 forms close interactions with both the catalytic acid and catalytic nucleophile.

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1-Azasugar analogues of L-iduronic acid (L-IdoA) and D-glucuronic acid (D-GlcA) and their corresponding enantiomers were synthesized as potential pharmacological chaperones for mucopolysaccharidosis I (MPS I), a lysosomal storage disease caused by mutations in the gene encoding a-iduronidase (IDUA). The compounds were efficiently synthesized in nine or ten steps from D- or L-arabinose and the structures were confirmed by X-ray crystallographic analysis of key intermediates. All compounds were inactive against IDUA, although L-IdoA-configured 8 moderately inhibited b-glucuronidase (b-GLU). The D-GlcA-configured 9 was a potent inhibitor of b-GLU and a moderate inhibitor of the endo-b-glucuronidase heparanase. Co-crystallization of 9 with heparanase revealed that the endocyclic nitrogen of 9 forms close interactions with both the catalytic acid and catalytic nucleophile.