[Structure of the Yersinia rohdei O-specific polysaccharide]

An O-specific polysaccharide composed of L-rhamnose was obtained on mild acid degradation of the Yersinia rohdei lipopolysaccharide. On the basis of methylation studies and 13C NMR data, the O-specific polysaccharide is shown to be a linear L-rhamnan built up of trisaccharide repeating units of the following structure: -->3)-alpha-L-Rhap-(1-->3)-alpha-L-Rhap-(1-->3)-beta-L-Rh ap-(1--> The structure was confirmed by calculations with the use of the known glycosylation effect on 13C chemical shifts.