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.