ABSTRACT
The pseudooligosaccharides are reversible and competitive α-glucosidase inhibitors. More complex sugar moieties are found in the oligosaccharide-containing antibiotics. Several of the oligosaccharide antibiotics have become well-established drugs of commercial importance in clinical and veterinary medicine or in agriculture. This chapter focuses on oligosaccharide antibiotics of microbial origin, and presents the chemical structures of oligosaccharide-containing pharmaceuticals and adds a brief survey of their biological activities and their medicinal applications. It describes the mechanism of action where detailed information is available. The basic mechanism of action is qualitatively the same for all aureolic acid group antibiotics. Among all the oligosaccharide antibiotics presented the orthosomycins are outstanding in two unique structural features: three to eight deoxy and branched chain sugars contribute to the oligosaccharide chain in which, one or two of the usually occurring acetalic glycoside linkages are replaced by spiro-ortholactone junctions.
