Conformational studies of Lewis X and Lewis A trisaccharides using NMR residual dipolar couplings

The conformations of the histo-blood group carbohydrate antigens Lewis X (Le(x)) and Lewis A (Le(a)) were studied by NMR measurements of one-bond C-H residual dipolar couplings in partially oriented liquid crystal solutions. A strategy for rapid calculation of the difference between theoretical and experimental dipolar couplings of a large number of model structures generated by computer simulations was developed, resulting in an accurate model structure for the compounds. Monte Carlo simulations were used to generate models for the trisaccharides, and orientations of each model were sought that could reproduce the experimental residual dipolar coupling values. For both, Le(a) and Le(x), single low energy models giving excellent agreement with experiment were found, implying a compact rigidly folded conformation for both trisaccharides. The new approach was also applied to the pentasaccharides lacto-N-fucopentaose 2 (LNF-2) and lacto-N-fucopentaose 3 (LNF-3) proving its consistency and robustness. For describing the conformation of tightly folded oligosaccharides, a definition for characterization of ring planes in pyranoside chairs is proposed and applied to the analysis of the relation between the fucose and galactose residues in the epitopes, revealing the structural similarity between them. (C) 2002 John Wiley Sons, Inc.