1H NMR analysis of novel sialylated and fucosylated lactose-based oligosaccharides having linear GlcNAc(β1–6)Gal and Neu5Ac(α2–6)GlcNAc sequences

Three novel oligosaccharides of human infant faeces have been fully characterised by methylation analysis and 500/600 MHz 1H NMR spectroscopy including DQF-COSY, TQF-COSY, TOCSY and ROESY experiments. The oligosaccharides were shown to be lactose-based structures two of which were substituted at C-6 of Gal with either the Lex trisaccharide, Gal(β1–4)[Fuc(α1–3)]GlcNAc(β1-, or Neu5Ac(α2–6)Gal(β1–4)GlcNAc-(β1-. They differ from other free oligosaccharides previously isolated from the human by having the (1 → 6) linkage to Gal in the absence of a (1 → 3) branch. The third oligosaccharide has Neu5Ac(α2–6) linked to GlcNAc of the trisaccharide GlcNAc(β1–3)Gal(β1–4)Glc. This is a linear fragment of the disialylated tetrasaccharide sequence Neu5Ac(α2–3)Gal(β1–3)[Neu5Ac(α2–6)]GlcNAc(β1- found in the milk oligosaccharide disialyl LNT (the GlcNAc residue of the tetrasaccharide linked to lactose) and also of N-linked chains (GlcNAc linked to Man).