Solid state NMR and X-ray diffraction studies of alpha-D-galacturonic acid monohydrate
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Updated: Oct 9, 2026

Structural Studies of Macromolecules in Solution using Small Angle X-Ray Scattering
Published on: November 5, 2018
H R Tang1, P S Belton, S C Davies
1Institute of Food Research, Norwich Laboratory, Norwich Research Park, Colney, UK.
Abstract:
Crystalline alpha-D-galacturonic acid monohydrate has been studied by 13C CPMAS NMR and X-ray crystallography. The molecular dynamics were investigated by evaluating 13C spin-lattice relaxation in the rotating frame (T1rho) and chemical-shift-anisotropy properties of each carbon. Only limited molecular motions can be detected in the low frequency (< 10(4) Hz) range by 13C relaxation time measurements (T1rho) and changes of chemical shift anisotropy properties as a function of temperature. X-ray analysis (at both ambient temperature and 150 K) shows that the acid has the usual chair-shaped, pyranose ring conformation, and that the acid and water molecules are linked, through all their O-H groups, in an extensively hydrogen-bonded lattice.
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