Sugar Recognition: Designing Artificial Receptors for Applications in Biological Diagnostics and Imaging

At the cellular level, numerous processes ranging from protein folding to disease development are mediated by a sugar‐based molecular information system that is much less well known than its DNA‐ or protein‐based counterparts. The subtle structural diversity of such sugar tags nevertheless offers an excellent, if challenging, opportunity to design receptors for the selective recognition of biorelevant sugars. Over the past 40 years, growing interest in the field of sugar recognition has led to the development of several promising artificial receptors, which could soon find widespread use in medical diagnostics and cell imaging. Sugar tongs: Involved in essential processes such as cellular signaling, carbohydrate modules are fascinating targets, and the particular challenges accompanying their recognition have stimulated the creativity of chemists for over four decades. Covalent chemistry and weak‐interaction‐based technology have emerged as means to provide tight binders with great promise in life science applications.