Glycans are complex compounds consisting of sugars linked glycosidically, existing either as pure polysaccharides or as part of glycoconjugates. They are prevalent in nature and possess important functions in regulating biological pathways. However, their diversity coupled with physiochemical similarities makes it challenging to isolate them in large quantities for biochemical studies, hence hampering progress in glycobiology and glycomedicine. Glycochemistry presents an alternative strategy to obtain pure glycan compounds through artificial synthetic methods.

中文翻译：

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超越供体控制的糖基化的冒险：端基选择性的新观点

聚糖是由糖基连接的糖组成的复杂化合物，以纯多糖或糖缀合物的一部分存在。它们本质上是普遍的，并且在调节生物途径中具有重要的功能。然而，它们的多样性和生理化学的相似性使其难以进行大量分离以用于生化研究，因此阻碍了糖生物学和糖医学的进展。糖化学提出了一种通过人工合成方法获得纯聚糖化合物的替代策略。