The capsular polysaccharide from Klebsiella serotype K54; location of the O-acyl groups, and a revised structure.

The capsular polysaccharide from Klebsiella type K54, containing both O-formyl and O-acetyl groups, has been investigated by using the techniques of methylation analysis (by gas-liquid chromatography), periodate oxidation-Smith degradation, and both 1H- and 13C-n.m.r. spectroscopy. Degradation of the native polysaccharide with a bacteriophage-induced glucosidase generated a formylated, as well as a formylated and acetylated, tetrasaccharide, whereas similar depolymerization of the deacetylated polysaccharide yielded a single tetrasaccharide; the corresponding, O-acylated octasaccharides were also isolated and characterized. These oligosaccharides, utilized in chemical and spectroscopic studies in order to determine the location of the O-acyl substituents in the repeating sequence, indicated formylation at 0-4 of each lateral D-glucosyl group and acetylation at 0-2 of alternate L-fucosyl residues. A new structure for the repeating unit in the polysaccharide is proposed.