Structural studies of the capsular polysaccharide from Streptococcus pneumoniae type 17A

Abstract The structure of the capsular polysaccharide from Streptococcus pneumoniae type 17A has been investigated. Using n.m.r. spectroscopy, methylation analysis, and specific degradations as the principal methods of structural investigation, it is concluded that the polysaccharide is composed of octasaccharide repeating-units having the following structure.