Fructosans

The occurrence of fructosans in plants is widespread (see page 253).M The formation of a bacterial fructosan, levan, by a number of different organisms has also been investigated. 

Levoglucosan Trinitrate. See under Fructosan Trinitrates, Vol 6 of Encycl, F208-L... 

Fructosans are a group of sugar anhydrides which hydrolyze to fructose. One of its derivatives, Fmctosan Trinitrate, is prepd from fructose... 

Fructosan Trinitrates. Ics alpha form, a-C6HT0a(0N02)3 mw 297.14, N 14.14%,... 

The alcoholic mother liquors from the o-form yield fructosan trinitrate /S, crusts of white Crystals which melt at 48—52° and decompose at 135° The material decomposes slowly at 50°. It reduces Fehling s soln rapidly on warming... 

D-fructose fructosan trinitrate C6H702(0N02)3, in two crystalline forms a (m.p. 139—... 

Fructosan trinitrate a, C6H702(0N02)3, is produced by the action of mixed acid at 0-15° on d-fructose or on laevulosan,78 colorless, quickly effluorescing needles from alcohol, which melt at 139-140° and decompose at about 145°. It is readily soluble in methyl and ethyl alcohol, acetic acid, and acetone, and insoluble in water. It is relatively stable at 50°. It reduces hot Fehling s solution. The alcoholic mother liquors from the a-form yield fructosan trinitrate fi, crusts of white crystals which melt at 48-52° and decompose at 135°. The material decomposes slowly at 50°. It reduces Fehling s solution rapidly on warming. 

Pollock, C.J. Ruggles, P.A. (1976). Cold-induced fructosan synthesis in leaves of Dactylis glomerata. Phytochemistry 15, 1643-6. 

FIGURE 5.4 Structure of cycloinulohexaose and D-fructose dianhydride, the most common cyclic fructosans derived from inulin. 

Strepkov, S.M., Synthesis of fructosans in the vegetative organs of Helianthus tuberosus, Doklady Akad. Nauk S.S.S.R., 131, 1183-1186, 1960b. 

Edelman, J. and Jefford, T.G., The mechanism of fructosan metabolism in higher plants as exemplified in Helianthus tuberosus, New Phytol., 67, 517-531, 1968. 

Kakhana, B.M. and Arasimovich, V.V., Transformations of fructosans in Jerusalem artichoke tubers as a function of the storage temperature, Izv. Aked. Nauk Moldavskov SSR Biologicheskie i Khimicheskie Naukl, 3, 24-29, 1973. 

The other noticeable product of this era was a steady stream of publications, mainly to the Journal of the Chemical Society, but also to the Biochemical Journal, to Chemistry and Industry, and later, to Carbohydrate Research. The atmosphere of this period is conveyed in several review lectures given by Hirst for example, the fourteenth Pedler lecture to the Chemical Society (1955) on Some Problems in the Chemistry of the Hemicelluloses, the Presidential Addresses to the Chemical Society (1957 and 1958) on Some Aspects ofthe Chemistry of the Fructosans and Polysaccharides of the Marine Algae, respectively, on Plant Gums, at the IVth International Congress of Biochemistry, Vienna (1958), and the Bakerian Lecture to the Royal Society (1959) on Molecular Structure in the Polysaccharide Group. These lectures were delivered with a quiet authority, and the published manuscripts show meticulous attention to detail. 

Some Aspects of the Chemistry of the Fructosans, E. L. Hirst, Proc. Chem. Soc. London, 193 (July, 1957). 

Myeloma antibodies to fructosans could be divided into two groups those specific for )8-(2- l)-linked fructosans as evidenced by the ability of inulin, a linear/3-(2- l) linked polymer, to precipitate, and those specific for /3-(2- 6) linkages as seen from the reaction with ryegrass levan, a linear polymer of /3-(2- 6) linkages. The j8-(2- l) specific myeloma proteins did not react with ryegrass levan and the /8-(2- 6) specific myeloma proteins did not react with inulin. 

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