By use of a combination of 1H nuclear Overhauser effect measurements, restrained molecular dynamics simulations, and 13C spin-lattice relaxation time measurements, the solution behavior of the glycan moiety of a complex glycoinositol phospholipid termed GIPL-6, from the protozoan parasite Leishmania major has been determined. The glycan moiety of GIPL-6 has the following structure, which is characterized by the presence of an internal beta-galactofuranose residue: [formula: see text] The glycan does not adopt a single conformation in solution, due to significant torsional variations about the two phosphodiester linkages and certain glycosidic linkages in the molecule. The presence of the internal galactofuranose residue results in an average solution conformation of the oligosaccharide, which resembles a "hairpin," with the galactofuranose residue at the apex.