Abbreviated terminology of oligosaccharide chains. Recommendations 1980. IUB-IUPAC Joint Commission on Biochemical Nomenclature (JCBN).

Definitions Recommendations 1. Trivial names 2. Systematic names 3. Abbreviated names for use in Oligosaccharides a-d.Symbols for sugars and their uses e. Uronic acids f.Deoxy sugars g.Aminodeoxy sugars h.Anhydro sugars i. Configuration j .Anomeric configuration k.Use of formulas 4. Unbranched oligosaccharides 5. Cyclic oligosaccharides 6. Branched and substituted oligosaccharides Appendix: Condensed system of symbolism of sugar residues in oligosaccharide chainsSystematic names and structural formulas of oligosaccharides and of oligosaccharide chains in polysaccharides and in glycoconjugates become unwieldy with increasing molecular size, and for large molecules there is a need for an abbreviated terminology.The recommendations below, based upon a report by a subcommittee,* follow in the main what has become established practice in the carbohydrate literature.In the recommendations given herein, which are, as far as possible, formulated within the framework of the IUPAC-IUB Tentative Rules for Carbohydrate Nomenclature (l), all available structural information is given explicitly.When a more condensed set of abbreviations is desired, the recommendations given in Section Lip-3 of the Nomenclature of Lipids (2) should be used.These recommendations, with some examples of their application, are given in the "Appendix" to the present document. DEFINITIONSAn oligosaccharide is a molecule containing a small number (2 to about 10) of monosaccharide residues, connected by glycosidic linkages.A carbohydrate containing two such residues is a disaccharide, a carbohydrate containing three such residues is a trisaccharide, and so on.