Invited Commentary: A calculation of all possible oligosaccharide isomers both branched and linear yields 1.05 × 1012 structures for a reducing hexasaccharide: the Isomer Barrier to development of single-method saccharide sequencing or synthesis systems

The number of all possible linear and branched isomers of a hexasaccharide was calculated and found to be >1.05 × 1012. This large number defines the Isomer Barrier, a persistent technological barrier to the development of a single analytical method for the absolute characterization of carbohydrates... View More