Advances in the Engineering of Polysaccharide Materials

Jun-ichi Kadokawa is professor at Kagoshima University, Japan, since 2004. He received his PhD from Tohoku University, Japan, in 1992. Then he joined Yamagata University, Japan, as a research associate. From 1996 to 1997, he worked as a visiting scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Germany. Between 1999 and 2004, he was associate professor at Yamagata University and Tohoku University. Prof. Kadokawa is the recipient of the Award for Encouragement of Research in Polymer Science and the Cellulose Society of Japan Award.Yoshiro Kaneko received his doctor of engineering degree at Yamagata University in 2001. From 2001 to 2004, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Yamagata University and at the National Institute for Materials Science. From 2004 to 2010, he was an assistant professor at Kagoshima University. He has been working as an associate professor at Kagoshima University since 2010.

• Introduction. General Scope for Enzymatic Tools in Engineering of Polysaccharide Materials. Phosphorylase-catalyzed enzymatic glycosylation. Phosphorylase-catalyzed enzymatic polymerization. Chemoenzymatic synthesis of amylose-grafted synthetic polymeric materials by phosphorylase catalysis. Chemoenzymatic synthesis of amylose-grafting heteropolysaccharide materials by phosphorylase catalysis. Preparation of nanostructured inclusion complexes in phosphorylase-catalyzed enzymatic polymerization ("Vine-twining polymerization"). Applications and material preparations by means of vine-twining polymerization by phosphorylase catalysis. Carbohydrate engineering by phosphorylase catalysis. Preparation of amylose-based nanomaterials by phosphorylase catalysis.

"This book covers a wide range of knowledge from the authors’ vast experience in the enzymatic synthesis of polysaccharides. The authors treat with authority subjects such as vine-twining polymerization and amylose-based nanomaterials, which are certain to catch the imagination of polymer chemists of all ages. The text will serve as a useful reference for years to come."—Prof. Shin-ichiro Shoda, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan"Saccharide synthesis has been one of the most difficult processes in terms of the stereo- and regio-selectivity control due to the complicated structure, and actually polysaccharides were not successfully synthesized. The in vitro synthesis of saccharides in the past two decades, however, was made possible by employing enzymes as the catalyst. Hydrolases and phosphorylases are typical enzymes. This book focuses on phosphorylase-catalyzed chain elongation via glycosylation to produce poly- and oligo-saccharides having amylose chains. With these methods, it is now possible to readily prepare various new functional polysaccharide materials."—Prof. Shiro Kobayashi, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Japan