D-Galactoses

D-galactose, C HiiOe. Crystallizes in the pyranose form m.p. 1I8-120 C (monohydrate), 165-5" C (anhydrous). An isomer of glucose which is fairly widely distributed in plants. It is a constituent of raffinose and slachyose, of hemicelluloses, of pectin, of gums and mucilages, and of some glycosides. In animals it forms half the lactose molecule and is the sugar found in the brain. Chemically it is very similar to glucose. It has the structure... 

D-Galactose (hydrated) D-Galactose (anhydrous). 1201 170 + 82 201 15-19 Penta-acetate, a- 95, P- 142 inucic acid, 213... 

D (+) Galactose is a constituent of numerous polysaccharides It is best obtained by acid hydrolysis of lactose (milk sugar) a disaccharide of d glucose and d galactose L (—) Galactose also occurs naturally and can be prepared by hydrolysis of flaxseed gum and agar The principal source of d (+) mannose is hydrolysis of the polysaccharide of the ivory nut a large nut like seed obtained from a South American palm... 

Lactose is a disacchande constituting 2-6% of milk and is known as milk sugar It differs from maltose and cellobiose m that only one of its monosaccharide units is D glucose The other monosaccharide unit the one that contributes its anomeric carbon to the glycoside bond is d galactose Like cellobiose lactose is a (3 glycoside... 

The following are the more stable anomers of the pyranose forms of D glucose D mannose and D galactose... 

When D galactose was heated at 165°C a small amount of compound A was isolated... 

The structure of compound A was established in part by converting it to known compounds Treat ment of A with excess methyl iodide in the presence of silver oxide followed by hydrolysis with dilute hydrochlonc acid gave a tnmethyl ether of D galactose Companng this trimethyl ether with known trimethyl ethers of D galactose allowed the structure of compound A to be deduced... 

How many tnmethyl ethers of D galactose are there Which one is the same as the product derived from compound A" ... 

D-galactose-4-sulfate—3,6-anhydro-D-galactose-2-sulfate (see Carbohydrates). 

Gum ghatti is the calcium and magnesium salt of a complex polysaccharide which contains L-arabinose, D-galactose, D-mannose, and D-xylose and D-glucuronic acid (48) and has a molecular weight of approximately 12,000. On dispersion in water, gum ghatti forms viscous solutions of viscosity intermediate between those of gum arabic and gum karaya. These dispersions have emulsification and adhesive properties equivalent to or superior to those described for gum arabic. 

StmcturaHy, guar gum comprises a straight chain of D-mannose with a D-galactose side chain on approximately every other mannose unit the ratio of mannose to galactose is 2 1 (53). Guar gum has a molecular weight on the order of 220,000 (54). 

Another microbial polysaccharide-based emulsifier is Hposan, produced by the yeast Candida lipolytica when grown on hydrocarbons (223). Liposan is apparentiy induced by certain water-immiscible hydrocarbons. It is composed of approximately 83% polysaccharide and 17% protein (224). The polysaccharide portion consists of D-glucose, D-galactose, 2-amino-2-deoxy-D-galactose, and D-galacturonic acid. The presence of fatty acyl groups has not been demonstrated the protein portion may confer some hydrophobic properties on the complex. 

In all plants and most animals, L-ascorbic acid is produced from D-glucose (4) and D-galactose (26). Ascorbic acid biosynthesis in animals starts with D-glucose (4). In plants, where the biosynthesis is more compHcated, there are two postulated biosynthetic pathways for the conversion of D-glucose or D-galactose to ascorbic acid. 

Because a hexose contains four chiral carbon atoms, there are 2 = 16 different possible arrangements of the hydroxyl groups in space, ie, there are 16 different stereoisomers. The stmctures of half of these, the eight D isomers, are shown in Figure 1. Only three of these 16 stereoisomers are commonly found in nature D-glucose [50-99-7] D-galactose [59-23-4] and D-mannose [3458-28-4]. 

Oxidation of tiie caibon atoms at both ends of the carbon chain produces an aldaric acid. That made from D-galactose is galactaric acid [526-99-8] a... 

P-D-mannan with single 6-Unked a-D-galactose branches g 4)-p -D-glucomannan ... 

---