CORRELATION OF CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND OPTICAL ROTATION OF NATIVE XYLANS

Abstract
The principle of optical superposition has been used to derive an equation relating the specific rotations of native xylans with their content of 4-O-methylglucuronic acid and/or arabinofuranose residues. The equation is in good agreement with literature data for the 4-O-methylglucuronoxylans and the arabinoxylans. Based on this correlation, an α-L-linkage is suggested for the arabinofuranose residues in various arabinose-containing xylans. Literature rotations for the 4-O-methylglucuronoarabinoxylans are consistently greater than values predicted by the equation. Finally, the rotatory dispersion behavior of acidic and neutral xylans is examined.