Structural Changes in Boiling Solutions of Sugar with Reference to Chromatography of Carbohydrates

Abstract

THE sensitivity of the chromatographic method in detecting sugars has made possible a greater appreciation of the labile character of many monosaccharides, and has emphasized the significance, in quantitative work, of degradation in sugar solutions at the boil¹ and of accelerated epimerization attributable to trace alkalis in chromatographic paper². It does not seem to be so fully appreciated, however, that structural changes in sugar solutions can occur during heating for periods comparable with those frequently used in polysaccharide hydrolyses, and that such changes might give rise to misinterpretation of the results of qualitative paper-chromatography studies.