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?

The Wohl degradation, an alternative to the Ruff degradation, is nearly the reverse of the Kiliani–Fischer synthesis. The aldose carbonyl group is converted to the oxime, which is dehydrated by acetic anhydride to the nitrile (a cyanohydrin). Cyanohydrin formation is reversible, and a basic hydrolysis allows the cyanohydrin to lose HCN. Using the following sequence of reagents, give equations for the individual reactions in the Wohl degradation of D-arabinose to D-erythrose. Mechanisms are not required.

a. hydroxylamine hydrochloride

b. acetic anhydride

c. ^–OH, H₂O

Draw the structures of the individual mutarotating α and β anomers of maltose.

Give an equation to show the reduction of Tollens reagent by maltose.

Ruff degradation of D-arabinose gives D-erythrose. The Kiliani–Fischer synthesis converts D-erythrose to a mixture of D-arabinose and D-ribose. Draw out these reactions, and give the structure of D-ribose.

D-Altrose is an aldohexose. Ruff degradation of D-altrose gives the same aldopentose as does degradation of D-allose, the C3 epimer of glucose. Give the structure of D-altrose.

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.

(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?