Study of the infrared spectra of oligosaccharides in the region 1,000-40 cm-1.

The i.r. spectra of disaccharides differing in monosaccharide composition and in the position and configuration of the glycosidic linkage, and also those of raffinose and model saccharides, were studied in the region 1,000-40 cm-1. Two ranges may be of interest for structural analysis. The first, called "the anomeric region=, is suitable for the determination of the configuration of the glycosidic linkage. The spectra of the oligosaccharides in the second region, called "the region of crystallinity", depend upon the packing of the molecules in the solid. The reasons for the present impossibility of using the far-infrared region of the i.r. spectra of lower oligosaccharides for the determination of the position of the glycosidic linkage are considered.