β-glucan, one of the homopolysaccharides composed of D-glucose, exists widely in cereals and microorganisms and possesses various biological activities, including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-tumor properties. More recently, there has been mounting proof that β-glucan functions as a physiologically active “biological response modulator (BRM)”, promoting dendritic cell maturation, cytokine secretion, and regulating adaptive immune responses—all of which are directly connected with β-glucan-regulated glucan receptors. This review focuses on the sources, structures, immune regulation, and receptor recognition mechanisms of β-glucan.

An efficient and versatile glycosylation methodology is crucial for the systematic synthesis of oligosaccharides and glycoconjugates. A direct intermolecular and an indirect intramolecular methodology have been developed, and the former can be applied to the synthesis of medium-to-long-chain glycans like that of nucleotides and peptides. The development of a generally applicable approach for the stereoselective construction of glycosidic bonds remains a major challenge, especially for the synthesis of 1,2-cis glycosides such as β-mannosides, β-L-rhamnosides, and β-D-arabinofuranosides with equatorial glycosidic bonds as well as α-D-glucosides with axial ones. This review introduces the direct formation of cis-glycosides using ZnI₂-mediated cis-glycosylations of various constrained glycosyl donors, as well as the recent advances in the development of stereoselective cis-glycosylations.