Raffinose optical rotation

The optical rotations of saccharides are of such great value in the identification of such substances, in following their reactions, and in the proper assignment of configurations, that almost invariably the report on the isolation of a new sugar will include optical rotation data. In the raffinose family, sufficient data have been accumulated that the present writer considers it worth-while to summarize and correlate the available information. The optical rotatory values are listed in Table VI. 

Changes in optical rotation have been popular with those investigating glycoside hydrolysis since Wilhemy in 1850, using the newly invented polarimeter, demonstrated that hydrolysis of glycosides follows the first-order rate equation, k = 1/t log a/(a — x). Rate constants were then ob-tmned for the acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of salicin, - starch, maltose, lactose, methyl a- and /9-n-glucopyranoside, methyl a- and /S-n-galacto-pyranoside, - sucrose, and raffinose. ... 

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