Relaxed-residue energy maps based on the MM3 force field were computed for the methyl glycosides of eight C-linked D-glucosyl disaccharides: the two-bond axial-equatorial linked disaccharides β-kojibioside [(1→2)α-], β-nigeroside [(1→3)α-] and β-maltose [(1→4)α-], the two-bond equatorial-equatorial linked disaccharides β-sophoroside [(1→2)β-], β-laminarabioside [(1→3)β-], β-cellobioside [(1→4)β-] and the three-bond-linked (1→6) disacharides C-isomaltoside and C-gentiobioside. Optimized structures were calculated on a 20° grid spacing of the torsional angles about the C-glycosidic bonds and the final isoenergy surfaces were based on 11664 conformations, for the two-bond-linked disaccharides and 69984 conformations for the three-bond-linked disaccharides. Boltzmann-weighted 3J coupling constants were calculated and compared to the experimental values. They are satisfactory except for maltose where hydrogen bonds cause an over-estimation of the energy differences between the conformers. The energy maps are similar to maps of the corresponding O-disaccharides, but there are differences in the locations and the relative energies of the minima. The preferred conformations of the C-glycosidic bonds are as if they were conforming to the exo-anomeric effect but are closer to staggered conformations than shown by the MM3 results for the O-linkages
