Catalytic synthesis of sulfated polysaccharides I: Characterization of chemical structure.

In the present study, sulfated derivatives of Artemisia sphaerocephala polysaccharide (SASP) with high degree of substitution (DS) were synthesized by using 4-dimethylaminopyridine (DMAP)/dimethylcyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCC) as catalyst in homogeneous conditions. It was found that DMAP/DCC showed marked improvement in DS of sulfated samples. Compared to sulfated derivatives without catalyst, the DS of SASP increased from 0.91 to 1.28 with an increment in dosage of DMAP from 0 to 10 mg. The influence of DMAP/DCC on the DS of sulfated derivatives was depended on the content of DMAP. The effect of DMAP might be due to its strong coordination to the hydroxy group. The results of FT-IR and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) indicated that SO3- group (S6+, binding energy of 172.3 eV) was widely present in sulfated polysaccharide molecules. 13C NMR results indicated that C-6 substitution was predominant for sulfated polysaccharide when compared with other positions. In the sulfation reaction, a sharp decrease in MW was observed. DMAP/DCC was an effective catalyst system in sulfated modification of polysaccharide.