CAS 12678-07-8: Sodium chondroitin 6-sulfate

The disaccharide repeating unit of chondroitin sulphate consists of N-acetyl galactosamine sulphate linked β1,4 to glucuronic acid. Each monosaccharide may be left unsulphated, sulphated once, or sulphated twice. The most common pattern is that the hydroxyl groups of the 4 and 6 positions of the N-acetyl-galactosamine are sulphated, with some chains having the position 2 of the glucuronic acid sulphated.

Chondroitin sulphate consists of a repeating disaccharide of [-l-beta)-D-glucopyranosyl uronic acid-(l-3)-N-acetyl-2-amino-2-deoxy-beta-D-galactopyranosyl-(1 ]. It differs from hyaluronic acid by having D-galactosamine instead of D-glucosamine in the second residue of the repeating disaccharide unit. It also has O-sulfate groups attached to the monosaccharide residues. There are two kinds of chondroitin sulphates, with the sulfate group esterified to the hydroxyl group at ei¬ther C-4 or C-6 of the N-acetyl-2-amino-2-deoxy-D-galactopyranose unit. These two sulphated polysaccharides occur separately or in mixtures, depending on the tissue. The chondroitin sulphates are major components of cartilage. Chondroitin sulphates are found in animal and fish cornea of the eye, the aorta, skin, and lung tissue, where they are located between fibrous protein molecules and provide a soft, pliable texture.