ABSTRACT
I. FISCHER GLYCOSIDATION A. Reaction Mechanisms Glycosidation by the Fischer process is the oldest known method for manu facturing alkyl glycosides [1-3]. In this process, saccharides are reacted with alcohols in the presence of strong acids, which results in the formation of alkyl glycosides with water as a by-product. Bishop and Cooper [4] as well as Smirnyagin and Bishop [5] thoroughly investigated the mechanism of Fischer glycosidation. By reacting D-glucose and other saccharides with methanol in the presence of 1% hydrogen chloride at 35°C, they obtained the corresponding methyl a-furanosides, methyl /3-furanosides, methyl apyranosides, and methyl /3-pyranosides as equilibrium mixtures (Table 1).
