Mutarotation, of monosaccharides

The observation that mutarotation of monosaccharides is retarded significantly by such solvents as l r,i f-dimethylformamide and methyl sulfoxide induced Kuhn and coworkers to investigate the pyranose-furanose interconversion more closely. Indeed, the rrii mechanism (normal a-/3 interconversion) is completely suppressed in these solvents, and the Isbell conversion (the rri2 mechanism) can be followed according to the equation ... 

Studies have been made on the ring structures of hextdoses and on the mutarotation of monosaccharides by using g.l.c. and m.s. of the per-O-trimethylsilyl derivatives. 

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