DEGRADATION OF METHYL BETA-D-RIBOPYRANOSIDE AND METHYL BETA-D-XYLOPYRANOSIDE BY OXYGEN IN AQUEOUS SODIUM-HYDROXIDE SOLUTION

Methyl beta-D-ribopyranoside (1) and methyl beta-D-xylopyranoside (2) were degraded by oxygen (0.682 MPa partial pressure) in 1.25 M sodium hydroxide at 120-degrees-C. The degradations of 1 and 2 were similar to the previously reported degradations of 1,5-anhydroribitol (3) and 1,5-anhydroxylitol (4), respectively.4 Both hydrogen peroxide and stable organic peroxides were detected in the reactions of 1 and 2. The riboside 1 degraded faster than the xyloside 2. This difference in reactivity is proposed to be a function of the relative acidity of the glycosides. Ionization of hydroxyl groups is postulated to be favored in 1, thus facilitating the initiation of the free radical degradation. The degradations of both 1 and 2 exhibited complex kinetics indicating auto-inhibited reactions. In spite of the differences in reactivity, glycosidic bond cleavage occurred in approximately 60% of the degradations for both 1 and 2. C-1 radicals, resulting from abstraction of the anomeric hydrogen atom, are proposed to cause the observed autoinhibition via termination reactions with alpha-hydroxyhydroperoxyl radicals. However, decomposition of the glycosides via C-1 radicals is not believed to constitute a major degradation pathway since the reactivities of 1 and 2 were essentially the same as the analogous 1,5-anhydroalditols, i.e. 3 and 4, respectively. The major acidic degradation products of 1 and 2 were identical, but were formed in different relative ratios. The major acidic products were methoxyacetic acid, lactic acid, glycolic acid, glyceric acid, a methyl 3-C-carboxyfuranoside, and two isomeric 2-C-carboxyfuranosides.