under conditions appropriate for formation of a bond between a carbon atom of the first sugar and an oxygen atom of a first phosphate of the diphosphate group, a linkage between a carbon atom of the second sugar and an oxygen atom of a second phosphate of the diphosphate group, and an electrostatic interaction between two or more, preferably three, oxygen atoms of the diphosphate group and the ion, and wherein the orientation of the linkage is synclinal, phosphorous-oxygen bonds linking the first phosphate to the second phosphate of the diphosphate group are in antiperiplanar or -anticlinal orientation, and synclinal orientation, respectively, or symmetrically related orientations, and preferably the distance between the carbon atom linked to the first sugar and the carbon atom linked to the second sugaran ion by (a) selecting a molecule comprising a first sugar, a diphosphate group, an ion, and a second sugar that is transferred by the glycosyltransferase to an acceptor for the glycosyltransferase, wherein there is a bond between a carbon atom of the first sugar and an oxygen atom of a first phosphate of the diphosphate group, a linkage between a carbon atom of the second sugar and an oxygen atom of a second phosphate of the diphosphate group, and an electrostatic interaction between two or more, preferably three, free oxygen atoms of the diphosphate group and the ion, (b) optimizing the conformation of the molecule using ab initio quantum chemistry methods so that the orientation of the linkage is synclinal, phosphorous-oxygen bonds linking the first phosphate to