# Pulling sugars off salt activation

Source: [nature.com](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41929-026-01634-4) · 2026-11-09 · Physics
Page: https://themorning.science/story/pulling-sugars-off-salt-activation-442228d336b3ce00
Kind: research · Impact: low

## In brief

- A paper in Nature Catalysis, published online on 9 November 2026, reports a new approach to assembling oligosaccharides using activated sugars.
- The chemical assembly of oligosaccharides depends on the reactivity of the anomeric site.
- The paper's background notes that a Lewis acid-catalysed method for activating anomeric imidates was introduced in 1980.

## Why it matters

Building sugar chains (oligosaccharides) chemically depends on how reactive the anomeric carbon is, so better activation methods can affect how these molecules are made in the lab.

## Timeline

- 2026-11-09: Paper published online in Nature Catalysis

## Coverage

- [Pulling sugars off salt activation](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41929-026-01634-4) — nature.com, 2026-11-09

Tags: carbohydrate chemistry, oligosaccharides, glycosylation, catalysis, organic synthesis

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Brief generated by AI (claude-haiku-5-5) from the reporting listed under Coverage. Headlines belong to their publishers. The Morning Science – https://themorning.science