Procedure for reducing D-arabino-hexosulose to a mannitol rich mixture of D-mannitol and D-glucitol

Article abstract of DOI:10.1016/0008-6215(84)85116-2

D-arabino-Hexosulose (D-glucosone, 2) can now be conveniently produced by the enzymic reaction of pyranose-2-oxidase (P2O) with D-glucose (1).D-arabino-Hexosulose has been efficiently and selectively reduced to D-fructose (3) by catalytic hydrogenation with palladium on carbon.We now report a procedure for reducing (2) to a mannitol-rich mixture of D-mannitol (4) and D-glucitol (sorbitol, 5).The method uses catalytic hydrogenation with Raney nickel, and yields 4 and 5 in 3:1 ratio.This ratio is unlike that obtained by catalytic hydrogenation of D-glucose (which yields exclusively D-glucitol) or by catalytic hydrogenation of D-fructose (which yields 4 and 5 in 1:1 ratio).