The title compound, Na(+)·C5H11O8S(-) [systematic name: sodium (1S,2S,3S,4R)-1,2,3,4,5-penta-hydroxy-pentane-1-sulfonate], is formed by reaction of d-lyxose with sodium bis-ulfite (sodium hydrogen sulfite) in water. The anion has an open-chain structure in which one of the oxygen atoms of the sulfonate residue, the S atom, the C atoms of the sugar chain and the O atom of the hy-droxy-methyl group form an essentially planar zigzag chain with the corresponding torsion angles lying between 179.80 (11) and 167.74 (14)°. A three-dimensional bonding network exists in the crystal structure involving hexa-coordination of sodium ions by O atoms, three of which are provided by a single d-lyxose-sulfonate unit and the other three by two sulfonate groups and one hy-droxy-methyl group, each from separate units of the adduct. Extensive inter-molecular O-H⋯O hydrogen bonding supplements this bonding network.
Keywords: crystal structure; d-lyxose bisulfite adduct; sodium hydrogen sulfite; sodium metabisulfite.