Gessler K, Krauss N, Steiner T, Betzel C, Sandmann C, Saenger W
Institut für Kristallographie, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany.
Science. 1994 Nov 11;266(5187):1027-9. doi: 10.1126/science.7973653.
The crystal structure of beta-D-cellotetraose shows the same molecule packing as cellulose II, with two antiparallel molecules in the unit cell: For cellulose II, the orientation of the C6-O6 bonds has been described as gauche-trans and trans-gauche, respectively, for the two antiparallel molecules, which otherwise have identical conformations. In contrast, in beta-D-cellotetraose all C6-O6 bonds are gauche-trans, but the conformations of the two antiparallel molecules are different. Energy minimization and molecular dynamics studies suggest that the structure of cellulose II should be reinvestigated in light of these findings.
β-D-纤维四糖的晶体结构显示出与纤维素II相同的分子堆积方式，晶胞中有两个反平行分子：对于纤维素II，两个反平行分子的C6-O6键的取向分别被描述为gauche-反式和反式-gauche，否则它们具有相同的构象。相比之下，在β-D-纤维四糖中，所有C6-O6键都是gauche-反式，但两个反平行分子的构象不同。能量最小化和分子动力学研究表明，应根据这些发现重新研究纤维素II的结构。
