2-Acetamido-2-deoxy-3-O-(α-L-fucopyranosyl)-D-glucopyranose (CAS 52630-68-9)

2-Acetamido-2-deoxy-3-O-(α-L-fucopyranosyl)-D-glucopyranose is a synthetic glycoside that integrates a unique structural configuration, combining a glucose molecule where an acetamido group replaces the hydroxyl group at the second position, and an α-L-fucopyranosyl residue is linked at the third position. This configuration makes it an invaluable tool in the study of glycan biology, particularly in understanding the subtleties of glycan-mediated biological recognition and cell signaling. This chemical is primarily used in glycoscience research to investigate the interactions between carbohydrates and proteins, such as lectins, which are critical for numerous biological processes including cell-cell recognition, pathogen invasion, and immune response. The acetamido group serves as an analog of naturally occurring N-acetyl groups in glycosaminoglycans, providing insights into how modifications in sugar moieties affect biological recognition and functionality. Furthermore, the addition of the fucose residue is particularly significant because fucose-containing structures are known to play crucial roles in cellular communication and adhesion in numerous organisms. This compound has been extensively used to study the specificity and binding properties of fucosylated structures within cells. In research settings, this glycoside is utilized to synthesize complex glycans and to model glycan structures that are otherwise challenging to isolate from natural sources. This enables detailed studies of glycan function, advancing our understanding of glycochemistry and its applications in biotechnology and synthetic biology.