Crystal structure and hydrogen bonding in -(1-de-oxy-β-d-fructo-pyranos-1-yl)-2-amino-isobutyric acid.

The title compound, alternatively called d-fructose-2-amino-isobutyric acid (FruAib), CHNO, (I), crystallizes exclusively in the β-pyran-ose form, with two conformationally non-equivalent mol-ecules [(I) and (I)] in the asymmetric unit. In solution, FruAib establishes an equilibrium, with 75.6% of the population consisting of β-pyran-ose, 10.4% β-furan-ose, 10.1% α-furan-ose, 3.0% α-pyran-ose and <0.7% the acyclic forms. The carbohydrate ring in (I) has the normal chair conformation and the amino acid portion is in the zwitterion form. Bond lengths and valence angles compare well with the average values from related pyran-ose structures. All carboxyl, hy-droxy and ammonium groups are involved in hydrogen bonding and form a three-dimensional network of infinite chains that are connected through homodromic rings and short chains. Intra-molecular hydrogen bonds bridge the amino acid and sugar portions in both mol-ecules. A comparative Hirshfeld surfaces analysis of FruAib and four other sugar-amino acids suggests an increasing role of intra-molecular heteroatom inter-actions in crystal structures with an increasing proportion of C-H bonds.