Relatively Unspecific Oxidants

Wet Combustions. Hot acid solutions of chromic acid and of ceric sulfate oxidize carbohydrate materials to carbon dioxide, formic acid, and formaldehyde. The quantity of oxidant consumed constitutes a fairly precise measure of the amount of carbohydrate present 258). 

The equations for the oxidation of several sugars by ceric sulfate are  

The Oxidation op Various Organic Compounds Using Alkaline Permanganate, Periodic, Sulfato Ceric, and Chromic Acids (260) 

Tartaric acid COOH CHOH CHOH COOH 10 2 7.20 

Chromic acid acts similarly and has been used for the volumetric determination of cellulose materials (259). Acid permanganate under the same conditions presumably would exhibit similar reactions. 

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Hydroxytryptamine is deaminated oxidatively to 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid. In addition, 5-hydroxytryptamine is catabolized in substantially smaller amounts by reduction to the corresponding alcohol, 5-hydroxytryptophol, (1868-70) is excreted in the free form and combined as the glucuronide or sulphate. 7V-Methylation of 5-hydroxytryptamine gives iV-methylsero-tonin, which can be methylated further to 7V, -dimethylserotonin (= bufotenine). The iV-methylation is catalysed by a relatively unspecific iV-methyltransferase. By acetylation of 5-hydroxytryptamine 7V-acetyl-serotonin is produced, which is an intermediary product in the course of the melatonin synthesis (= 5-methoxy-AT-acetylserotonin). The production of 5-methoxytryptamine, which we were able to demonstrate in normal human blood and urine, seems to occur fairly easily by deacetylation of melatonin, whereas a direct 0-methylation of serotonin to 5-methoxy-tryptamine, at least in vitro, takes place to a substantially smaller extent. ... 

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