LAUSR

This mini-review focuses on the production of water soluble cellulose oligomers. They are easier to handle than cellulose while still having some very interesting cellulose features. Their production is not trivial and they are thus seldom commercially available or at high prices and only in small quantity (100 mg or less). The goal of this mini-review is to describe different routes to obtain those cellulose oligomers. Several examples of chemical or enzymatic synthesis and enzymatic or acidic depolymerization are presented. All the pathways considered are then compared according to several criteria as polymerization degree, yield, availability and cost of the reagents, reaction time, etc. As most of the pathways produce a mixture of cellulose oligomers, techniques to separate them according to their length are also discussed.