Oligosaccharide wood degradation product

Xyloisosaccharinic acid [2,4-dihydroxy-2-(hydroxymethyl)butanoic acid] is one of the major, alkaline-degradation products of wood xylan, in particular, that of birch. The disaccharide, 2-O-D-xylopyranosyl-L-arabinose, which was isolated as a hydrolysis product of corn-cob hemicellulose, is readily degraded at 100° in 15 mM Ca(OH)2 to acidic products, primarily saccharinic acids. Xylan oligosaccharides from corn-cob hemicellulose produced 2,4-dihydroxy-2-(hydroxymethyl)buta-noic acid when exposed to 0.02 M Ca(OH)2 at 25°. However, it was noted that the xylan, itself, was stable at 100° in Af NaOH. The major acidic component of the hemicellulose fraction of slash pine Pinus el-liotti) after acid hydrolysis was identified as 4-O-methyl-D-glucuronic... 

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