Dynamics of Furanosides: Inelastic Neutron Scattering Spectra of Methyl alpha- and beta-D-Ribofuranosides

Ribofuranoside is a five member ring sugar which plays important biochemical function. As opposed to the six-membered ring, in which bond lengths, bond angles, and dihedral angles can be maintained at their minimum energy values in a well defined and strain free chair conformation, the five-membered ring is strained in all conformations. Numerous conformational preferences of ribofuranoside, including ring-puckering, dynamics of hydroxyl and hydroxymethyl groups, intermolecular hydrogen bonding and internal rotation of the methyl group offer a plethora of possible interactions that may guide their biological function. Here we present a case for study of representative furanoside, namely methyl alpha- and beta-D-ribofuranosides.

核糖呋喃糖苷（Ribofuranoside）是一类五元环糖，具有重要的生化功能。与六元环不同，六元环可在结构明确且无张力的椅式构象中维持键长、键角及二面角处于最低能量状态，而五元环的所有构象均存在张力。核糖呋喃糖苷的多种构象偏好（包括环折叠、羟基与羟甲基的动态变化、分子间氢键及甲基的内旋转）提供了丰富的潜在相互作用，这些作用可能指导其生物学功能。本文以具有代表性的呋喃糖苷（即甲基α-和β-D-核糖呋喃糖苷）为例展开研究。