A practical approach to N-glycan production by hydrazinolysis using hydrazine monohydrate

Hydrazinolysis is a versatile method to liberate N-linked glycans from glycoproteins. However, the method is usually performed with anhydrous hydrazine, a highly toxic and explosive chemical used in rocket fuel. Thus despite the need to produce functionally important glyco-materials, hydrazinolysis is limited to small scale (e.g., 0.2–1 mL) reactions. In the present study, we report an alternative procedure for hydrazinolysis using hydrazine monohydrate in place of anhydrous hydrazine. The developed procedure was applied to both purified glycoproteins (Taka-amylase and transferrin) and hen egg yolk protein fraction with comparable yields to the traditional method using anhydrous hydrazine. The sialyl linkage of α2-6disialobiantennary oligosaccharides proved to be fully stable. The developed procedure facilitated the large-scale preparation of N-linked glycans. The new method should make a substantial contribution to both small- and large-scale production of functional glycans, including therapeutically relevant human-type glycans.