Oligosaccharides from polysaccharides, nature

The term sugar applies to mono-, di-, and oligosaccharides, which are all soluble in water and thereby distinguished from polysaccharides. Many natural sugars are sweet, but data of Table 1 show that sweetness varies greatly with stereochemical configuration and is exhibited by compounds of widely differing structural type. 

Mass spectrometry provides a rapid, sensitive method for the structural analysis of oligosaccharides and, especially in combination with g.l.c., offers a valuable technique for the analysis of oligosaccharides from natural sources and from polysaccharide hydrolyzates. Methyl ethers " or trimethylsilyl ethers are suitable derivatives for the g.l.c. separation of oligosaccharides. 

About the same time, a new international research journal, Carbohydrate Research, appeared (volume 1) in 1964. It has become the principal journal for the publication of all aspects of carbohydrate research, such as chemical synthesis and modification enzymatic synthesis organic and enzymatic mechanisms involving carbohydrates carbohydrate metabolism conformational analysis isolation of carbohydrates from natural sources analytical methods chemistry of monosaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides biological function of carbohydrates and physical properties. Approximately four to five volumes are published each year. 

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