A technique, based on 1 H NMR and IR experiments, to characterise intramolecular hydrogen bonds in aqueous medium in a series of amino, amido and ammonium sugar derivatives has been established. Three groups of molecules, representing amides (4, 5 and 6), amines (7 and 8) and ammonium salts (chlorides 9 and 10, and phosphates 11 and 12), with different relative configurations of their functional groups, have been investigated to assess the effect of the nature and the stereochemistry of these groups on the hydrogen-bonding features of the sugar. The deduced features in water solution are compared to those obtained previously in nonpolar solvents. The phosphate salts of amines 7 and 8 (11 and 12)