Author
 |
Cheng, Huai |
|
Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 11/23/2009 Publication Date: 3/26/2010 Citation: Cheng, H.N. 2010. Enzymatic Modifications of Polysaccharides (abstract). 17th New Orleans Carbohydrate Symposium. Paper No. 13. Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: Polysaccharides are often modified chemically in order to improve its properties or to impart specific characteristics. Indeed quite a few commercial products are based on modified polysaccharides. In this talk, I shall describe a new set of modified polysaccharides based on enzymatic reactions. These involve enzyme-catalyzed ester formation, amidation, acylation, glycosylation and molecular weight control. Through these means selected functional groups can be grafted onto the polysaccharides, thereby producing new products with improved properties. In addition, the enzymatic reactions have the advantage of lower reaction temperatures and/or milder reaction conditions, with potentially fewer byproducts. The preparation and properties of several modified materials based on cellulose and guar will be described. |
