Structural studies of the capsular polysaccharide from Streptococcus pneumoniae Type 12F

Abstract

The capsular polysaccharide from Streptococcus pneumoniae type 12F is composed of D-glucosyl, D-galactosyl, 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-D-galactosyl, 2-acetamido-2,6-dideoxy-L-galactosyl, and 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-D-mannuronic acid residues in the proportions 2:1:1:1:1. The main structural evidence was adduced from nmr spectroscopy, methylation analysis, and specific degradations whereby it could be concluded that the polysaccharide is composed of hexasaccharide repeating-units having the structure:[Formula: see text]