This thesis describes 3 projects relating to bioactive carbohydrates. The first project describes the preparation of a library of synthetic standards for use in the industrial manufacture of galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS). Using several carbohydrate building blocks, we attempted to synthesise linear and branched trisaccharides in the least amount of synthetic steps possible. Using one donor and an acceptor with two or more free hydroxyl groups, we attempted "random" glycosylations.
In the second project the isolation and purification of therapeutic carbohydrate
analogues from the seeds of the common British bluebell, Hyacinthoides non-scripta, is described. We aimed to further investigate the iminosugar content of the seeds of the common British bluebell using a series of chromatographic extraction methods.
In the third project, carbohydrates were tested for biological activity. Using
commercially available human therapeutic enzymes (Myozyme, Replagal and
Fabrazyme) and a range of enzymes from prokaryotes, plants and eukaryotes,
synthetic glycosides were tested for evidence of enzyme inhibition and activation.