THE USE OF NMR-SPECTROSCOPY IN THE STRUCTURE DETERMINATION OF A LEPTOMONAS-SAMUELI GLYCOSYLPHOSPHOSPHINGOLIPID-DERIVED OLIGOSACCHARIDE

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy provides an extremely po werful technique to determine the structure of oligosaccharides, parti cularly when used in conjunction with other physical techniques such a s methylation analysis and fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry (FA B-MS). This brief review describes the application of NMR to the deter mination of the structure of an oligosaccharide isolated from the glyc ophosphosphingolipid (GPS) from the monogenetic trypanosomatid Leptomo nas samueli. Where ambiguities arise in the NMR interpretation, the us e of other data will be discussed.