1H- and 13C-n.m.r. assignments and conformational analysis of some monosaccharide and oligosaccharide substrate-analogues of lysozyme.

The 1H- and 13C-n.m.r. spectra of solutions of GlcNAc, beta-GlcNAc-(1----4)-GlcNAc, and beta-GlcNAc-(1----4)-beta-GlcNAc-(1----4)-GlcNAc in D2O at 50 degrees are interpreted in terms of the conformations, using a combination of 1D- and 2D-n.m.r. spectroscopy and spectra simulation techniques. Two preferred orientations of the hydroxymethyl group were found for each of these saccharides. The conformations have been compared with those found from X-ray crystallographic data and conformational energy calculations.