Hydrogen Peroxide Without a Catalyst

The characteristic instability of aqueous L-ascorbic acid solutions in the presence of air is associated with the metallic content, especially copper, of the solvent. Accumulation of hydrogen peroxide by such reactions as those shown in equations (1) and (2) is readily demonstrated by partition 

Continued depletion of L-ascorbic acid in stored fruit-juices may be partly due to interaction with the hydrogen peroxide initially produced by aerobic mechanisms. Indeed, introduction of hydrogen peroxide, in amounts equivalent to the L-ascorbic acid content, into three-month old, blackcurrant-juice samples, caused a 50% loss of L-ascorbic acid in one hour, probably ascribable to formation of dehydro-L-ascorbic acid. 

White observed a post-irradiation process between glyoxylic acid and hydrogen peroxide in irradiated glycine solutions. Synthetic mixtures of these two compounds reacted similarly, to give equivalent amounts of formic acid, and Hatcher and Holden have shown that reaction (3) is bimolecular no oxalic acid can be detected, and the sodium salt is particu- 

The literature concerning the behavior of polysaccharides is somewhat contradictory. Whistler and Schweiger stated that polysaccharides are unaffected by hydrogen peroxide in the absence of catalysts. Only slight changes in viscosity and hydrolysis were recorded for hyaluronic acid and 

Although some carbohydrates react only slowly, if at all, at room temperature, a moderate increase in temperature frequently effects reaction. Thus, D-glucose which seems rather inert at low temperature, - yields D-glucuronic acid at 37°. 4-Deoxy-D-giZycero-2,3-hexodiulose and 

---