Keller-Kiliani test

In an attempt to synthesize 2-desoxy-L-ribose, Mukherjee and Todd68 treated methyl 2,3-anhydro-jS-L-ribopyranoside (LXXII) with sodium thiomethoxide and then reduced the amorphous product. The sulfur-free sirup thus obtained was inert to the action of periodate and is therefore methyl 3-desoxy-/3-L-riboside (ayn., methyl 3-desoxy-/3-L-xyloside) (LXXIV) rather than the desired 2-desoxy derivative. The methylthio intermediate (LXXIII) was consequently a 3-methylthio-L-xylose derivative rather than a 2-methylthio-L-arabinose compound. The presence of a trace of the latter, however, is not wholly excluded since the sirupy desoxypentoside (LXXIV) gave a feeble green coloration in the Keller-Kiliani test, a reaction generally accepted as being specific for 2-desoxy-sugars. 

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