Oligosaccharide nomenclature

Oligosaccharides and polysaccharides are an important class of polymeric carbohydrates found in virtually all living entities.

[3] In parentheses, between the names of the monosaccharide residues, the number of the anomeric carbon atom, an arrow symbol, and the number of the carbon atom bearing the connecting oxygen of the next monosaccharide unit are listed.

[3] Appropriate symbols are used to indicate the stereochemistry of the glycosidic bonds (α or β), the configuration of the monosaccharide residue (D orL), and the substitutions at oxygen atoms (O).

[2] Maltose and a derivative of sucrose illustrate these concepts: In the case of branched oligosaccharides, meaning that the structure contains at least one monosaccharide residue linked to more than two other monosaccharide residues, terms designating the branches should be listed in square brackets, with the longest linear chain (the parent chain) written without square brackets.

[3] The following example will help illustrate this concept: These systematic names are quite useful in that they provide information about the structure of the oligosaccharide.

[2] Using this system, the previous example would have the abbreviated name α-L-Fucp-(1→3)-[α-D-Galp-(1→4)]-α-D-Glcp-(1→3)-α-D-GalpOAll (General formula:

[2] Two common examples are cellulose, a main component of the cell wall in plants, and starch, a name derived from the Anglo-Saxon stercan, meaning to stiffen.

[3] When there is no parent chain, all different monosaccharide residues are to be listed alphabetically as “glyco-” prefixes and the name should end with “-glycan”.