Natural biopolymers have inspired the development of synthetic analogues that can adopt defined conformations and assemble into 3D architectures. These compounds are mainly based on peptides and nucleic acids, which are well understood at the molecular level and can be rationally synthesized to obtain functional artificial systems. By contrast, synthetic glycans have remained relatively unexplored in materials science and supramolecular chemistry, a paradox considering that carbohydrates are the most abundant structural materials on Earth. Recent advances in automated synthesis and analytical techniques have improved our understanding of glycan structures, transforming our perception of glycans from shapeless molecules to polymers adopting several distinct conformations. This newly available knowledge suggests that glycans capable of folding and assembling into defined architectures can be created. In this Perspective, we explore the emerging field of programmable carbohydrate architectures, highlighting the breakthroughs in synthesis and analysis that have made the design of artificial glycan foldamers and assemblies possible. Finally, we discuss the future prospects of this field, analysing which challenges must be overcome to establish design rules for building carbohydrate materials on demand.

天然生物聚合物激发了合成类似物的开发，这些类似物可以采用定义的构象并组装成 3D 架构。这些化合物主要基于肽和核酸，它们在分子水平上得到很好的理解，可以合理合成以获得功能性人工系统。相比之下，合成聚糖在材料科学和超分子化学中仍然相对未经探索，考虑到碳水化合物是地球上最丰富的结构材料，这是一个悖论。自动合成和分析技术的最新进展提高了我们对聚糖结构的理解，将我们对聚糖的看法从无形状的分子转变为采用几种不同构象的聚合物。这一新发现的知识表明，可以创建能够折叠和组装成特定结构的聚糖。在本视角中，我们探索了可编程碳水化合物结构的新兴领域，重点介绍了合成和分析方面的突破，这些突破使人工聚糖折叠体和组件的设计成为可能。最后，我们讨论了该领域的未来前景，分析了必须克服哪些挑战来建立按需构建碳水化合物材料的设计规则。