Mucic add

What are the products of oxidation and reduction of the monosaccharides Mucic add, of which the preparation from d-galactose has been described, is optically inactive and incapable of resolution, just like duldtol, the corresponding hexahydric alcohol. As the formula shows, the four asymmetric carbon atoms of galactose form two pairs (2, 5 and 3, 4) having the same substituents but opposite arrangement in space, and when the carbon atoms 1 and 6 become alike, inactive forms are produced by intramolecular compensation, as in mesotartaric acid. 

Adipic acid has been prepared by the following methods the action of silver1 or copper 2 on /3-iodopropionic acid the reduction of mucic add with phosphorus and iodine 3 the electrolysis of the potassium or sodium salts of monoethyl succinate 4 the condensation of ethylene chloride or bromide with malonic ester or cyanoacetic ester and subsequent hydrolysis 5 the oxidation of certain fractions of Baku petroleum 6 the oxidation of cyclohexanol or cyclohexanone with nitric acid 7 or potassium permanganate.8... 

Mucic add is now manufactured on a large scale by the oxidation of the galactose occurring in certain spedes of wood. 

P3rromucic acid, C4H3O.COOH, is formed as the result of the oxidation of furfuraldehyde. As its name implies it is produced by the distillation of mucic acid, COOH(CHOH)4COOH. Pyromucic acid melts at 132° and sublimes readily. When heated at 275° in a sealed tube it loses carbon dioxide and is converted into furan it is sulphonated by fuming sulphuric acid. The unsaturation of the ring resembles that in the olefines it adds four bromine atoms and is oxidized by Baeyer s reagent. 

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