Synonymous with
polysaccharides. Glycans composed of a single type of monosaccharide residue (homopolysaccharide,
synonym homoglycan) are named by replacing the ending '
-ose' of the sugar by '
-an', e.g. mannans, fructans, xylans, arabinans.
Dextrans and
dextrins belong to the class glucans.
Source:
PAC, 1995, 67, 1307
(Glossary of class names of organic compounds and reactivity intermediates based on
structure (IUPAC Recommendations 1995))
on page 1337