POLYMERS Vol.59　No.6 June 2010

 

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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