Synthetic glycopolymers: an overview

Glycopolymers, synthetic sugar-containing macromolecules, are attracting ever-increasing interest from the chemistry community due to their role as biomimetic analogues and their potential for commercial applications. Recent developments in polymerisation techniques have enabled the synthesis of glycopolymers featuring a wide range of controlled architectures and functionalities. This review covers the syntheses of pendant carbohydrate-carrying linear polymers and their subsequent properties. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.