Hydrogen-bond network in cyclodecaamylose hydrate at 20 K; neutron diffraction study of novel structural motifs band-flip and kink in α-(1→4)-D-glucoside oligosaccharides

A single-crystal neutron diffraction study of cyclodecaamylose (CA10) was carried out at 20 K. CA10 crystallizes with 27.18 water molecules [(C6H10O5)10·27.18H2O] in space group C2 with unit-cell constants a = 29.31 (5), b = 9.976 (10), c = 19.34 (2) Å, β = 121.07 (2)°. The asymmetric unit contains a half molecule of CA10 and 13.59 water molecules, the other half being related by a crystallographic twofold rotation axis. All H atoms except two water H atoms could be located from difference neutron-density maps; structure refinement converged at R = 0.635. Two of the five CH2—O6 groups and one of the 15 O2, O3 hydroxyl groups of CA10 are twofold orientationally disordered. A total of 13.59 water molecules in the asymmetric unit are distributed over 23 positions; 20 of which are in the CA10 cavity, and the other three occupy intermolecular interstices. Of the 123 symmetry-independent hydrogen bonds, 25 (= 20%) are three-centered and 7 (= 6%) are four-centered. Water molecules and O—H groups of CA10 form an extended network with cooperative O—H...O—H...O—H hydrogen bonds. They are arranged in 11 polygons with three, four, five, six and eight O—H bonds and in homodromic, antidromic and heterodromic arrangements. Nine polygons are located within the cavity and the others are outside.