 Glycosidic torsion angle

In a nucleoside or nucleotide, the glycosidic torsion angle $\chi$ describes rotation of the nucleobase relative to the sugar about their N-glycosidic bond. It is a signed dihedral angle defined by four ordered atoms:The middle two atoms specify the glycosidic bond; the outer atoms define the two reference planes. Thus the atom sequence, not the symbol $\chi$ alone, fixes the angle convention.^[ref]

The recommended broad regions are syn glycosidic conformation, centered at $0^{\circ }$ with a90degree range on either side, and anti glycosidic conformation, centered at $180^{\circ }$ with the corresponding range. For example, $\chi =60^{\circ }$ lies in the syn region and $\chi =-160^{\circ }$ in the anti region. These describe base–sugar orientation; they do not by themselves specify sugar-ring shape or the complete RNA conformation.^[ref]

An original angular comparison illustrates periodicity. Measurements of $179^{\circ }$ and $-179^{\circ }$ differ by only2degrees around the circle, not358degrees. A signed shortest difference can be calculated asusing radians inside the trigonometric functions. Interpreting the two near-boundary values as distant conformations would be an artifact of the angle's reporting interval.

The convention is important when comparing structural models or older literature. Alternative choices using C8 for a purine or C6 for a pyrimidine can shift the numerical angle by approximately180degrees. Numerical torsions should therefore be compared only after checking their defining atoms.^[ref]