N-Hexyl-4-aminobutyl glycosides for investigating structures and biological functions of carbohydrates.

The potential applications of N-hexyl-4-aminobutyl glycosides in the mass spectrometric investigation of glycan structure and in the investigation of glycan functions were studied. Under collision-induced dissociation (CID) conditions, sodiated glycosides carrying N-hexyl-4-aminobutyl groups effectively produced a hemiacetal species (C-ions), which is important in mass-spectrometry-based structural investigation. The usefulness of N-hexyl-4-aminobutyl glycosides in biological analysis was also confirmed by obtaining a binding constant for the binding of dipyrrometheneboron difluoride C3-labeled N-hexyl-4-aminobutyl beta-lactoside with an Erythrina cristagalli lectin, and by visualizing cellular organelles using a more hydrophobic BODIPY-labeled compound.