Two new homonuclear three-dimensional NMR techniques are described for the simplification of proton resonance assignment in oligosaccharides, namely HOHAHA-COSY and ROESY-COSY. The former technique is of value in the resonance assignment of gluco-configuration monosaccharide residues, whereas the latter is more suited to resonance assignment of galacto-configuration monosaccharide residues. The value of these techniques is illustrated by application to the proton resonance assignment of the pentasaccharide Gal beta 1-4(Fuc alpha 1-3)GlcNAc beta 1-3 Gal beta 1-4Glc, a compound which exhibits a variety of assignment problems due to severe cross-peak overlap in conventional COSY or HOHAHA spectra.