Staudinger Reactions for Selective Functionalization of Polysaccharides: A Review.

Staudinger reactions are frequently highly chemoselective and can occur under very mild conditions, so are attractive methods for efficient functionalization of polysaccharides. This review describes recent investigations that exploit Staudinger-related reactions to effectively alter physical and chemical properties of polysaccharides in order to make them more diversely applicable. Staudinger-related reactions, such as Staudinger reduction, Staudinger ligation, and traceless Staudinger ligation comprise a powerful family of techniques enabling preparation of a wide range of polysaccharide derivatives with excellent chemoselectivity and the potential for excellent regioselectivity when combined with other methods.