The crystal structure of methyl α-D-mannopyranosyl-(1→3)-2-O-acetyl-β-D-mannopyranoside monohydrate, C15H26O12·H2O, (II), has been determined and the structural parameters for its constituent α-D-mannopyranosyl residue compared with those for methyl α-D-mannopyranoside. Mono-O-acetylation appears to promote the crystallization of (II), inferred from the difficulty in crystallizing methyl α-D-mannopyranosyl-(1→3)-β-D-mannopyranoside despite repeated attempts. The conformational properties of the O-acetyl side chain in (II) are similar to those observed in recent studies of peracetylated mannose-containing oligosaccharides, having a preferred geometry in which the C2-H2 bond eclipses the C=O bond of the acetyl group. The C2-O2 bond in (II) elongates by ∼0.02 Å upon O-acetylation. The phi (φ) and psi (ψ) torsion angles that dictate the conformation of the internal O-glycosidic linkage in (II) are similar to those determined recently in aqueous solution by NMR spectroscopy for unacetylated (II) using the statistical program MA'AT, with a greater disparity found for ψ (Δ = ∼16°) than for φ (Δ = ∼6°).
Keywords: conformational analysis; crystal structure; disaccharide; glycobiology; α-d-mannopyranosyl; β-d-mannopyranoside.