title: General consideration on sialic acid chemistry.
abstract: Sialic acids, also known as neuraminic acids, are a family of negatively charged α-keto acids with a nine-carbon backbone. These unique sugars have been found at the termini of many glycan chains of vertebrate cell surface, which play pivotal roles in mediating or modulating a variety of physiological and pathological processes. This brief review covers general approaches for synthesizing sialic acid containing structures. Recently developed synthetic methods along with structural diversities and biological functions of sialic acid are discussed.
authors: National Glycoengineering Research Center, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, People's Republic of China. hzcao@sdu.edu.cn
authors: Hongzhi
authors: H
authors: Cao
authors: Xi
authors: X
authors: Chen
mesh_terms: D002236:Carbohydrate Conformation; D002240:Carbohydrate Sequence; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D019158:N-Acetylneuraminic Acid / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D019158:N-Acetylneuraminic Acid