Chemical modification of hydroxyl groups of poly(vinyl alcohol) by a glycosidation reaction

Communication: A new procedure for chemical modification of poly(vinyl alco hol) (PVA) was established by a glycosidation reaction of hydroxyl groups i n PVA with triacetylated sugar oxazoline 1. H-1 and C-13 NMR analyses indic ated that triacetylated N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (GlcNAc) was introduced onto a PVA backbone selectively via a beta-O-glycoside linkage. Deacetylation o f triacetylated GlcNAc-substituted PVA 2 resulted in GlcNAc-substituted PVA 3 in good yield. These modified PVAs 2 and 3 exhibited solubilities and th ermal properties different from the original PVA.