title: Structure of a fucoidan from the brown seaweed Fucus serratus L.
abstract: A fucoidan consisting of L-fucose, sulfate and acetate in a molar proportion of 1:1:0.1 and small amounts of xylose and galactose were isolated from the brown seaweed Fucus serratus L. The fucoidan structure was investigated by 1D and 2D 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy of its desulfated and de-O-acetylated derivatives as well as by methylation analysis of the native and desulfated polysaccharides. A branched structure was suggested for the fucoidan with a backbone of alternating 3- and 4-linked alpha-L-fucopyranose residues, -->3)-alpha-L-Fucp-(1-->4)-alpha-L-Fucp-(1-->, about half of the 3-linked residues being substituted at C-4 by trifucoside units alpha-L-Fucp-(1-->4)-alpha-L-Fucp-(1-->3)-alpha-L-Fucp-(1-->. Minor chains built up of 4-linked alpha-fucopyranose and beta-xylose residues were also detected, but their location, as well as the position of galactose residues, remained unknown. Sulfate groups were shown to occupy mainly C-2 and sometimes C-4, although 3,4-diglycosylated and some terminal fucose residues may be nonsulfated. Acetate was found to occupy C-4 of 3-linked Fuc and C-3 of 4-linked Fuc in a ratio of about 7:3.
authors.affiliation: N.D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninskii prosp., 47, 119991 Moscow, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Maria I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Bilan
authors.forename: Alexey A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Grachev
authors.forename: Alexander S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Shashkov
authors.forename: Nikolay E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Nifantiev
authors.forename: Anatolii I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Usov
mesh_terms: D002236:Carbohydrate Conformation; D002240:Carbohydrate Sequence; D044645:Fucus; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D013055:Spectrophotometry, Infrared
chemical_list: D011134:Polysaccharides; C007789:fucoidan