Automated access to well-defined ionic oligosaccharides

Ionic polysaccharides are part of many biological events, but lack structural characterisation due to challenging purifications and complex synthesis. Four monosaccharides bearing modifications not found in nature are used for the automated synthesis of a collection of ionic oligosaccharides. Structural analysis reveals how the charge pattern affects glycan conformation. Automated Glycan Assembly grants access to ionic oligosaccharides for structural studies.