Conformational preferences of the flexible galactofuranose sugar in gas-phase

Phys Chem Chem Phys. 2023 Aug 2;25(30):20373-20380. doi: 10.1039/d3cp01671d.

Abstract

In contrast with the predominant pyranose form of galactose, galactofuranose is known to be highly flexible. Such flexibility poses a remarkable challenge in terms of structural studies, thus hindering the in depth understanding of the structure/function relationship in this rare sugar. A thorough computational study based on molecular dynamics and density functional theory supported by vibrational spectroscopy in the gas phase was carried out to provide a better understanding of the instrinsic conformational preferences of galactofuranose. Based on energetic and spectroscopic criteria, we report a subtantially reduced conformational landscape: methyl α-D-galactofuranose adopts E2/1E conformations and methyl β-D-galactofuranose adopts 1T2/1E conformations.