| POLYMERS Vol.59 No.6 |
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COVER STORY
Advanced Polysaccharide Engineering |
| Growing Polymers: A Personal Account |
| Toward a Colored Research | Yuuya NAGATA |
| <Abstract> My research life was closely related to “colors”. This personal account reviews my experiences struggling with fluorescent organoboron polymers and unstable organoaluminum polymers. |
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| World in Disorder | Satoshi HABUCHI |
| <Abstract> I have been enchanted by the mysterious natures of individual molecules which are often hidden behind the ensemble averaging, and been pursuing origin and meaning of the world in disorder. |
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| COVER STORY: Highlight Reviews |
| Structure of Polysaccharide and Structural Analysis by X-Ray | Yoshiaki YUGUCHI |
| <Abstract> Polysaccharides occur in plants and the living body in the solid, gel,
or liquid. They have a highly structural diversity and possess the potential
to be used for development of new materials and energy sources. So it is
very important to understand their molecular structure under various conditions.
This review introduces the structural characteristics of polysaccharides
and the examples of their analysis by the X-ray scattering method. Keywords: Polysaccharide / Cellulose / Starch / Xyloglucan / Gel / X-Ray Scattering / X-Ray Microbeam |
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| Enzymatic Synthesis of Polysaccharides | Takeshi TAKAHA and Michiyo YANASE |
| <Abstract> Polysaccharides receive increasing attention because of their environmental
friendliness together with versatile functions, and are expected to be
used in various fields of industries. In order to achieve this, we need
to understand more about the structure-function relationship of polysaccharides
and establish a system to produce polysaccharides with desired structures.
Enzymes and methods for polysaccharide engineering and some applications
of engineered polysaccharides are described. Keywords: Polysaccharide / Phosphorylase / Transferase / Glucanotransferase / Amylose / Glucan / Glycogen |
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| Advanced Material Design and Applications of Cellulose | Takuya KITAOKA |
| <Abstract> Cellulose, a linear polymer of β-1,4-linked d- glucopyranose, is the most abundant, renewable bioresource, and broadly
distributed in nature as the major component of plant cell walls. Conventional
applications, e.g. woody materials, paper, plastics and food additives, still remain important,
and further advances are required to achieve the forthcoming carbon-neutral
eco-society. This article reviews novel cellulosic materials, which have
been developed by tailoring unique nano-structures and molecular characteristics
of cellulose. Keywords: Cellulose / Structural Polysaccharide / Nanofiber / Film / Paper / Biomaterial / Catalyst |
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| Construction of Supramolecules Based on Polysaccharides | Yoshiro KANEKO and Jun-ichi KADOKAWA |
| <Abstract> Polysaccharides with helical structures such as amylose and schizophyllan
are known as host compounds that form inclusion complexes with various
guest compounds. Recently, it has been found that the helical polysaccharides
include not only the compounds with relatively lower molecular weight,
but also the polymers. This review deals with the recent research developments
in the supramolecular complexes composed of the helical polysaccharides
and polymers. Keywords: Polysaccharide / Amylose / Schizophyllan / Inclusion Complex / Supramolecule |
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| COVER STORY:Topics and Products |
| Biosensing with Glyco-Clusters | Yoshiko MIURA |
| <Abstract> Saccharides on cell surfaces play important roles in living systems. We
have prepared saccharide clusters to mimic the cell surface and amplify
the biorecognition abilities. We conjugated the saccharides with substrates,
nanoparticles and polymers to fabricate novel materials for use in biosensing
devices. Keywords: Glyco-Cluster / Glycopolymer / Nanoparticle / Biosensor |
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| Utilization of Biomass Energy Production from Cellulose | Kazuhiko ISHIKAWA |
| <Abstract> The hyperthermophilic cellulases are obtained from archaea and used by
some industry. The new application of the hyperthermophilic cellulase gene
for the production of energy is in progress. Keywords: Cellulose / Archaea / Biomass / Cellulase / Pyrococcus / Thermophile / Enzyme |
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| Natural Polysaccharides Act as Fine Nanomaterials | Munenori NUMATA |
| <Abstract> β-1,3-Glucans act as unique natural nanotubes and can accept functional
polymers, molecular assemblies and nanoparticles in an induced-fit manner
to create water-soluble one-dimensional nanocomposites. Although, most
polymer-polymer or polymer-molecule interactions take place in a random
fashion, β-1,3-glucans can interact with polymer or molecular guests in
a specific fashion and can be used to construct well-regulated one-dimensional
superstructures, which is applicable toward fine nanomaterials. Keywords: Polysaccharide / Supramolecular Chemistry / Nanotube / Nanomaterials |
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| Polysaccharide as Chiral Stationary Phase | Tohru SHIBATA |
| <Abstract> The development of chiral stationary phases, among which those based on
cellulose and amylose are the most widely used, has made remarkable contribution
to the science and technology concerning chiral molecules. Studies on the
separation mechanism suggest the rigid and large monomeric units of polysaccharide
can afford chiral spaces accepting guest molecules. Keywords: Cellulose / Amylase / Chiral / Separation / Chromatography / Force-Field Calculation |
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| Polysaccharide-Biodegradable Polymer Hybrids as Medical Materials | Yuichi OHYA |
| <Abstract> The polysaccharide-biodegradable polymer hybrids were synthesized to be
applied as biomedical materials. Oligo-lactide-grafted polysaccharides
could form nanometer scale gel particles (nanogels). The utility of the
nanogels for protein delivery carriers is introduced. Keywords: Polysaccharide / Polylactide / Graft Copolymer / Amphiphilic Polymer / Self-Assembly / Nanogel / Protein Delivery |
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| Front-Line Polymer Science |
| Precise Materials Design by Living Radical Polymerization | Yoshinobu TSUJII and Kohji OHNO |
| <Abstract> Living radical polymerization (LRP) has attracted enormous attention over
the past decade for providing simple and robust synthetic routes to low-polydispersity
polymers including simple homopolymers, end-functionalized polymers, block/random/gradient
copolymers, and functional polymers. LRP also successfully controls the
topology or branched structure of polymer architectures, giving well-defined
star/hyper-branched/ comb-like (bottle-brush) polymers and crosslinked
polymer networks. Recent successful application of LRP made it possible
to densely graft these polymers on various substrates, firstly producing
“concentrated” polymer brushes with structure and properties quite different
and unpredictable from those of the “semi-dilute” polymer brushes previously
studied. This article highlights the recent development of LRP fabricating
well-defined polymer architectures from the viewpoint of novel materials
design, which can be achieved by optimization of reaction conditions in
LPR. Keywords: Materials Design / Living Radical Polymerization / Controlled Polymerization / Topology / Gelation / Branched Polymer / Polymer Brush / Polymer Architecture |
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