Separations of Carbohydrates on Ion-exchange Resins

By John Honeyman and J. W. W. MoEOANf Chemistry Department, King s College, University of London, England 

This account, supplementary to the recent review of the chemistry of the nitrates of simple aliphatic alcohols, describes the preparation, properties, and reactions of carbohydrate nitrates, but deals neither with the important physical properties nor with the thermal and explosive decompositions of polysaccharide (especially cellulose) nitrates. 

Occasionally, such common nitrates as those of cellulose and glycerol are erroneously called nitro compounds throughout this article, the nitrate ester of an alcohol (as in R—0—NO2) is invariably referred to as a nitrate, with nitro used only when the —NO2 group is attached to a carbon atom, as in nitrobenzene. 

Nitric acid alone has not been used extensively for making nitrates, although Colley prepared crystalline 2,3,4,6-tetra-O-acetyl-a-D-glucosyl nitrate by dissolving the corresponding chloride in fuming nitric acid. 

Esterification with mixed acids is often suitable for the preparation of carbohydrate nitrates, but sometimes a less vigorous method is required. For this purpose, a solution of anhydrous nitric acid in chloroform was introduced by Koenigs and Knorr and found suitable for preparing 

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