E.s.r. study of the alkaline degradation of disaccharides in methyl sulfoxide.

The degradation of a series of deoxy sugars and disaccharides in methyl sulfoxide-tetrabutylammonium hydroxide has been studied by e.s.r. spectroscopy. The generation of radicals and the types of radical formed are dependent on the anomeric configuration of non-reducing moieties and on the positions of the linkages and deoxy groups. Mechanisms for the pathways of degradation are proposed.