Carbohydrate & Glycan Properties

Curated physical, thermodynamic and glyco-analytical properties of sugars, sugar alcohols, oligo- and polysaccharides and glycans — for food, pharma and glycobiology. Every value is traced to a primary source with a verbatim quote.

⚗︎ Harvested & verified via the GlycoDataDigest (GDD) pipeline
314
Measurements
163
Molecules / species
10
Properties
121
Literature sources
🌡️ Melt/Dec 55 pts · °C
⚖️ Density 16 pts · g/cm³
🔥 Cp 23 pts · J/(mol·K)
🧊 ΔHfus 20 pts · kJ/mol
🍬 Sweet 23 pts · rel
⚗️ pKa 35 pts · pKa
🎈 CCS 70 pts · Ų
🔗 Kd 36 pts · µM
🌀 [η] 22 pts · mL/g
📈 MH a 14 pts · a
At a glance — typical values by carbohydrate class

Median [min–max] (n) in each property's natural unit. Click a property above to filter the table; click any column header to sort.

Carbohydrate class Melt/Dec (°C)Density (g/cm³)Cp (J/(mol·K))ΔHfus (kJ/mol)Sweet (rel)pKa (pKa)CCS (Ų)Kd (µM)[η] (mL/g)MH a (a)
monosaccharide 146.5 [83.0–169.0] n=17 1.5 [1.5–1.6] n=5 220.4 [220.3–227.7] n=4 30.3 [19.9–43.8] n=3 0.7 [0.5–1.5] n=10 12.2 [12.2–12.3] n=2 79.2 [76.3–139.8] n=4 1194.0 [0.1–22000.0] n=6
disaccharide 188.9 [102.5–239.0] n=13 1.6 [1.5–1.6] n=4 436.1 [425.0–534.8] n=6 39.1 [32.0–46.2] n=2 0.5 [0.2–1.0] n=10 112.6 [104.5–205.9] n=27 504.6 [0.0–30000.0] n=12
oligosaccharide 116.5 [79.0–170.0] n=4 200.7 [132.6–240.8] n=19 2.0 [0.0–3300.0] n=7
polysaccharide 538.8 [23.6–20400.0] n=21 0.8 [0.4–1.2] n=14
sugar alcohol / polyol 146.0 [111.0–167.0] n=7 1.5 [1.3–1.5] n=4 238.5 [161.9–241.4] n=5 47.9 [30.2–65.1] n=7 1.0 [0.6–1.0] n=3
amino sugar 176.0 [88.0–210.0] n=4 276.9 n=1 8.0 [7.6–11.2] n=3
uronic acid 160.0 n=1 1.2 n=1 3.3 [2.8–3.6] n=13
sugar acid 3.9 [3.0–11.6] n=7
sugar phosphate 5.9 [0.9–6.1] n=3
sialic acid 185.0 n=1 2.6 n=1 236.0 [225.2–245.1] n=4 2100.0 [100.0–3200.0] n=3
glycoside 211.8 [199.0–224.5] n=2 3.2 [3.0–3.5] n=6 16.1 [0.4–122.0] n=4
cyclodextrin 474.0 [277.8–507.0] n=5 221.0 n=1
carbohydrate (other) 224.5 n=1 1.6 n=2 128.9 [124.1–131.7] n=4
glycan (N-linked) 26.0 [3.0–50.0] n=3
glycan (O-linked) 0.0 n=1
glycan 435.5 [269.0–455.0] n=12
Browse all measurements
All monosaccharidedisaccharideoligosaccharidepolysaccharidesugar alcohol / polyolamino sugaruronic acidsugar acidsugar phosphatesialic acidglycosidecyclodextrincarbohydrate (other)glycan (N-linked)glycan (O-linked)glycan
# Molecule / species Carbohydrate class Property Value Method Conditions Ref (DOI) Comments
1 2,3-sialyllactose (Neu5Ac-alpha2,3-Gal-Glc) sialic acid protein binding affinity (Kd) 3200µM (reported 3.2 mM) Experiment
Kd vs influenza X-31 hemagglutinin (human H3), 500-MHz proton NMR; 2,3-linked sialyllactose
Kd vs influenza X-31 hemagglutinin (human H3), 500-MHz proton NMR; 2,3-linked sialyllactose | partner: influenza hemagglutinin (X-31, H3) | technique: NMR
10.1073/pnas.1120265109 high
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"the dissociation constant of X-31 HA to sialyllactose was reported to be 2.1 mM (2,6 linked) and 3.2 mM (2,3 linked)" — Original NMR data from Sauter et al. 1992. Weak monovalent affinity. [Sieben C, Kappel C, Zhu R, et al., 2012, confidence: high]
2 2,6-sialyllactose (Neu5Ac-alpha2,6-Gal-Glc) sialic acid protein binding affinity (Kd) 2100µM (reported 2.1 mM) Experiment
Kd vs influenza X-31 hemagglutinin (human H3), 500-MHz proton NMR; 2,6-linked sialyllactose
Kd vs influenza X-31 hemagglutinin (human H3), 500-MHz proton NMR; 2,6-linked sialyllactose | partner: influenza hemagglutinin (X-31, H3) | technique: NMR
10.1073/pnas.1120265109 high
View
"the dissociation constant of X-31 HA to sialyllactose was reported to be 2.1 mM (2,6 linked) and 3.2 mM (2,3 linked)" — Original NMR data from Sauter et al. 1992, Biochemistry 31:9609-9621 (DOI 10.1021/bi00447a018); cited here. Weak monovalent affinity; avidity from HA trimer multivalency. [Sieben C, Kappel C, Zhu R, et al., 2012, confidence: high]
3 3'-benzamido-N-acetyllactosamine glycoside protein binding affinity (Kd) 18.2µM (reported 18.2 uM) Experiment
Kd vs galectin-3 carbohydrate recognition domain (Gal3C), referenced value, room temperature
Kd vs galectin-3 carbohydrate recognition domain (Gal3C), referenced value, room temperature | partner: galectin-3 (Gal3C CRD) | technique: ITC
10.1021/bi201459p high
View
"affinity of lactose is lower (Kd = 231 microM) than that of 3'-benzamido-N-acetyllactosamine (Kd = 18.2 microM)" — Synthetic high-affinity galectin-3 ligand. [Saraboji K, Hakansson M, Genheden S, et al., 2011, confidence: high]
4 F3 (heparin-derived oligosaccharide) oligosaccharide protein binding affinity (Kd) 3300µM (reported 3.3 mM) Experiment
Kd vs human galectin-3, intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence spectroscopy (TFS); 3.3 +/- 0.1 mM (TFS) / 2.5 +/- 0.1 mM by ITC, 25 C, PBS
Kd vs human galectin-3, intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence spectroscopy (TFS); 3.3 +/- 0.1 mM (TFS) / 2.5 +/- 0.1 mM by ITC, 25 C, PBS | partner: galectin-3 | technique: intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence | temperature C: 25
10.1038/s41598-019-47658-8 high
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"dissociation constant of F3 binding to galectin-3 was determined to be KD, 3.3 +/- 0.1 mM" — Heparin-derived fragment binding to galectin-3; cross-validated with ITC (2.5 mM). [Sindrewicz P, Li X, Yates EA, Turnbull JE, Lian LY, Yu LG, 2019, confidence: high]
5 GM1 oligosaccharide (ganglioside GM1) oligosaccharide protein binding affinity (Kd) 0.043µM (reported 43 nM) Experiment
Kd vs cholera toxin B subunit (CTB), isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC)
Kd vs cholera toxin B subunit (CTB), isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) | partner: cholera toxin B subunit (CTB) | technique: ITC
10.1021/acs.biomac.8b01736 medium
View
"The high-affinity binding interaction of GM1-CTB has a Kd of 43 nM, as demonstrated using isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC)" — Classic high-affinity glycan-protein interaction; 43 nM is the widely cited monovalent GM1 oligosaccharide-CTB Kd. Value obtained via search of this article; DOI is the article's. [Heggelund JE, et al. (value as cited), 2019, confidence: medium]
6 H-disaccharide (alpha-L-Fuc-(1,2)-D-Gal) disaccharide protein binding affinity (Kd) 30000µM (reported 30 mM) Experiment
Kd vs norovirus GII.4 Saga P-dimer, chemical-shift-perturbation (CSP) NMR
Kd vs norovirus GII.4 Saga P-dimer, chemical-shift-perturbation (CSP) NMR | partner: norovirus GII.4 Saga P-dimer (VP1 protruding domain) | technique: NMR (CSP)
10.1042/BST20210526 high
View
"H-disaccharide is a very weak binder with a dissociation constant of 30 mM" — HBGA H-type epitope; GII.4 Saga strain. [Peters T, Creutznacher R, Maass T, et al., 2021, confidence: high]
7 H-disaccharide (alpha-L-Fuc-(1,2)-D-Gal) disaccharide protein binding affinity (Kd) 420µM (reported 420 uM) Experiment
Kd vs norovirus GII.10 Vietnam P-dimer, STD NMR titration
Kd vs norovirus GII.10 Vietnam P-dimer, STD NMR titration | partner: norovirus GII.10 Vietnam P-dimer (VP1 protruding domain) | technique: STD NMR
10.1042/BST20210526 high
View
"dissociation constants KD were given as follows ... 420 microM (H-disaccharide)" — Same H-disaccharide binds GII.10 Vietnam P-dimer ~70x more tightly than GII.4 Saga - strain-dependent affinity. [Peters T, Creutznacher R, Maass T, et al., 2021, confidence: high]
8 H-disaccharide (alpha-L-Fuc-(1,2)-D-Gal) disaccharide protein binding affinity (Kd) 2100µM (reported 2.1 mM) Experiment
Kd vs norovirus GII.4 VA387 P-dimer, native mass spectrometry; 2.1 and 1.5 mM for two P-dimer constructs
Kd vs norovirus GII.4 VA387 P-dimer, native mass spectrometry; 2.1 and 1.5 mM for two P-dimer constructs | partner: norovirus GII.4 VA387 P-dimer (VP1 protruding domain) | technique: native mass spectrometry
10.1042/BST20210526 high
View
"dissociation constants KD of 2.1 and 1.5 mM were determined for two slightly different P-dimer constructs" — Native MS value; illustrates method/strain dependence of reported HBGA affinities. [Peters T, Creutznacher R, Maass T, et al., 2021, confidence: high]
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Property glossary

Full names, units and plain-language definitions for the 10 properties on this page. (These notes also appear when you hover a property pill or a table column header.)

🌡️ Melting / decomposition point °C
Melting / decomposition temperature of the solid (many sugars decompose at the melt).
⚖️ Density g/cm³
Mass per unit volume of the solid or crystal.
🔥 Heat capacity (Cp) J/(mol·K)
Molar heat capacity Cp — heat needed to raise one mole by one kelvin.
🧊 Heat of fusion kJ/mol
Enthalpy of fusion ΔHfus — heat absorbed when the solid melts.
🍬 Relative sweetness rel
Sweetness relative to sucrose (sucrose = 1).
⚗️ pKa pKa
Acid dissociation constant — the pH at which an ionizable group is half-dissociated (lower = stronger acid).
🎈 Collision cross section Ų
Collision cross section — the ion's effective area measured by ion-mobility mass spectrometry.
🔗 Protein binding affinity (Kd) µM
Dissociation constant Kd for binding to a protein/lectin (lower Kd = tighter binding).
🌀 Intrinsic viscosity mL/g
Intrinsic viscosity [η] — a polymer's contribution to solution viscosity at infinite dilution (tracks molecular weight).
📈 Mark–Houwink exponent a a
Mark–Houwink exponent a in [η] = K·Mᵃ — reflects chain conformation/stiffness (≈0.5 random coil, →1 stiff/extended).