Figure 1. Illustration of the interactions of LecB with 1 and 2 based on the X-ray structures [9], [10], [44] of the carbohydrates with LecB.

To elucidate the individual contributions of substituents adjacent to the ring oxygen, target derivatives 3–7 were designed. A combination of moieties forming attractive interactions with LecB in hybrid structure 4 may lead to synergistic effects for binding. Hydroxy groups necessary for Ca²⁺-binding are shown in black. Moieties derived from l-fucose are shown in red and from d-mannose in blue. Dissociation constants (K_d) are taken from Sabin et al. [11].