Aminoglycoside-based oligosaccharides were bound to microtiter plates using noncovalent display with hybridization confirmed by mass spectrometry. Recognition of the saccharides by a model of the prokaryotic 16S aminoacyl site of the ribosomal decoding region was then determined. Tobramycin binding constants that correlated with surface plasmon resonance values for the model were effectively measured and novel means for binding aminoglycoside-based members were discovered for application to future aminoglycoside libraries. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.