Abstract
CHROMATOGRAPHY on filter paper has provided an excellent and a much-needed method for the investigation of the structure of polysaccharides1–5 and proteins6–10. While butanol–ethanol–water, butanol–acetic acid–water, and phenol–water are effective mixtures, among others1, for the separation of a wide variety of sugars11,12,5 and their methyl derivatives13, the phenol–water mixture is usually better than either of the other two mentioned above for the separation of unmethylated sugars (cf. ref. 14). The method using phenol–water, however, suffers from the disadvantage that the location of the sugars on the paper by treatment with ammoniacal silver nitrate cannot be accomplished without some difficulty because the paper quickly becomes dark or sometimes black. It is claimed that suitable purification of the phenol either reduces the darkening5 or eliminates it altogether15. We find that most of the darkening can be avoided by extracting the paper with ether before spraying with the silver reagent. By adopting this slight modification, it has been found unnecessary to purify the phenol.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Chargaff, E., Levine, C., and Green, C., J. Biol. Chem., 175, 67 (1948).
Cf. Hirst, E. L., Hough, L., and Jones, J. K. N., J. Chem. Soc., 928 (1949).
Hough, L., Jones, H. K. N., and Wadman, W. H., Nature, 162, 448 (1948); J. Chem. Soc., 2511 (1949).
Pascu, E., Mora, T. P., and Kent, P. W., Science, 110, 446 (1949).
Partridge, S. M., and Westhall, R. G., Biochem. J., 42, 238 (1948).
Bentley, H. R., and Whitehead, J. K., Nature, 164, 182 (1949).
Bull, H. B., Hahn, J. W., and Baptist, V. H., J. Amer. Chem. Soc., 71, 550 (1949).
Consden, R., Gordon, A. H., and Martin, A. J. P., Biochem. J., 38, 224 (1944).
Consden, R., Gordon, A. H., and Martin, A. J. P., Biochem. J., 41, 590 (1947).
Franklin, A. E., and Quastel, J. H., Science, 110, 447 (1949).
Flood, A. E., Hirst, E. L., and Jones, J. K. N., J. Chem. Soc., 1679 (1948).
Partridge, S. M., Nature, 158, 270 (1946).
Haworth, W. N., Hirst, E. L., and Oliver, Elsie, J. Chem. Soc., 1917 (1934). Bywater, R. A. S., Haworth, W. N., Hirst, E. L., and Peat, J., ibid., 1983 (1937).
Jermyn, M. A., and Isherwood, F. A., Biochem. J., 44, 402 (1949).
Draper, O. Janet, and Pollard, A. L., Science, 109, 448 (1949).
Cf. Benson, A. A., and Calvin, M., Science, 109, 140 (1949).
Forsyth, W. G. C., Nature, 161, 239 (1948).
Hirst, E. L., Hough, L., and Jones, J. K. N., Nature, 165, 34 (1950).
Partridge, S. M., Nature, 164, 445 (1949).
Bell, D. J., Angew. Chem., 60A, 79 (1948).
Hampton, H. A., Haworth, W. N., and Hirst, E. L., J. Chem. Soc., 1739 (1929).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
BOGGS, L., CUENDET, L., EHRENTHAL, I. et al. Separation and Identification of Sugars using Paper Chromatography. Nature 166, 520–521 (1950). https://doi.org/10.1038/166520b0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/166520b0
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
