Regioselective deprotection of peracetylated disaccharides at the primary position catalyzed by immobilized acetyl xylan esterase from bacillus pumilus

In this work peracetylated lactose and related compounds have been tested as advanced intermediate substrates in enzymatic deprotections catalyzed by acetyl xylan esterase (AXE) from Bacillus pumilus. In particular, we present a simple and efficient enzymatic procedure to obtain products bearing only one free primary hydroxy group in the C6′ position of the galactoside moiety of “lacto” carbohydrates. In particular, good yields (60–70 %) have been achieved in the hydrolysis of 1-O-methyl lactosamine and hexaacetyl lactal. The products obtained are of great interest as advanced building blocks for the synthesis of very important oligosaccharides of biological relevance.