Chapter 25: Carbohydrates

Hydrolysis

Summary

• Typical reagents : aqueous acid
• Cleaves the -OR bond outside the ring at the anomeric center replacing it with an -OH
• Typically a mixture of a- and b-isomers will be produced.
• Note that this is just acetal or ketal hydrolysis (review ?)
• This reaction is the reverse of that used for glycoside formation.
• This reaction can be used to breakdown polysaccharides into the component monosaccharides.

• Reactions of Alcohols to give Acetals
• Glycoside formation

© Dr. Ian Hunt, Department of Chemistry