The crystal structure of 1,2,3,4,6-penta-O-benzoyl-alpha-D-mannopyranose: observation of C-H...pi interaction as a surrogate to O-H...O interaction of a free sugar.

The crystal structure of the title compound was determined by X-ray crystallography. The compound crystallized in the orthorhombic space group P2(1)2(1)2(1) with four molecules in the unit cell with a=9.170(2), b=9.873 (2), c=38.831(8) A. The structure was refined to a R index of 0.041 for 7907 independent reflections. The mannopyranose unit adopts a distorted 4C1 conformation. The structure depicts unique network of C-H...pi interactions, very closely resembling the pattern of O-H...O interactions in free sugars. This intriguing and rare observation points to a notion that the supramolecular organization pertaining to a sugar is in-built in the pyranose ring itself.