In 1891, Emil Fischer determined the structures of glucose and the seven other d-aldohexoses using only simple chemical reactions and clever reasoning about stereochemistry andsymmetry. He received the Nobel Prize for this work in 1902. Fischer had determined thatd-glucose is an aldohexose, and he used Ruff degradations to degrade it to (+)-glyceraldehyde. Therefore, the eight d-aldohexose structures shown in Figure 23-3 are the possiblestructures for glucose.Pretend that no names are shown in Figure 23-3 except for glyceraldehyde, and usethe following results to prove which of these structures represent glucose, mannose,arabinose, and erythrose.(a) Upon Ruff degradation, glucose and mannose give the same aldopentose: arabinose.Nitric acid oxidation of arabinose gives an optically active aldaric acid. What are thetwo possible structures of arabinose?(b) Upon Ruff degradation, arabinose gives the aldotetrose erythrose. Nitric acid oxidation of erythrose gives an optically inactive aldaric acid, meso-tartaric acid. What isthe structure of erythrose?(c) Which of the two possible structures of arabinose is correct? What are the possiblestructures of glucose and mannose?(d) Fischer’s genius was needed to distinguish between glucose and mannose. Hedeveloped a series of reactions to convert the aldehyde group of an aldose to analcohol while converting the terminal alcohol to an aldehyde. In effect, he swappedthe functional groups on the ends. When he interchanged the functional groups ond-mannose, he was astonished to find that the product was still d-mannose. Showhow this information completes the proof of the mannose structure, and show how itimplies the correct glucose structure.(e) When Fischer interchanged the functional groups on d-glucose, the product was anunnatural l sugar. Show which unnatural sugar he must have formed, and show how itcompletes the proof of the glucose structure

Organic Chemistry
9th Edition
ISBN:9781305080485
Author:John E. McMurry
Publisher:John E. McMurry
Chapter25: Biomolecules: Carbohydrates
Section25.6: Reactions Of Monosaccharides
Problem 23P
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In 1891, Emil Fischer determined the structures of glucose and the seven other d-aldohexoses using only simple chemical reactions and clever reasoning about stereochemistry and
symmetry. He received the Nobel Prize for this work in 1902. Fischer had determined that
d-glucose is an aldohexose, and he used Ruff degradations to degrade it to (+)-glyceraldehyde. Therefore, the eight d-aldohexose structures shown in Figure 23-3 are the possible
structures for glucose.
Pretend that no names are shown in Figure 23-3 except for glyceraldehyde, and use
the following results to prove which of these structures represent glucose, mannose,
arabinose, and erythrose.
(a) Upon Ruff degradation, glucose and mannose give the same aldopentose: arabinose.
Nitric acid oxidation of arabinose gives an optically active aldaric acid. What are the
two possible structures of arabinose?
(b) Upon Ruff degradation, arabinose gives the aldotetrose erythrose. Nitric acid oxidation of erythrose gives an optically inactive aldaric acid, meso-tartaric acid. What is
the structure of erythrose?
(c) Which of the two possible structures of arabinose is correct? What are the possible
structures of glucose and mannose?
(d) Fischer’s genius was needed to distinguish between glucose and mannose. He
developed a series of reactions to convert the aldehyde group of an aldose to an
alcohol while converting the terminal alcohol to an aldehyde. In effect, he swapped
the functional groups on the ends. When he interchanged the functional groups on
d-mannose, he was astonished to find that the product was still d-mannose. Show
how this information completes the proof of the mannose structure, and show how it
implies the correct glucose structure.
(e) When Fischer interchanged the functional groups on d-glucose, the product was an
unnatural l sugar. Show which unnatural sugar he must have formed, and show how it
completes the proof of the glucose structure

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