Treatments of Wool in Organic Solvents and Their Effect on the Urea-Bisulfite Test

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Abstract
Treatment of wool in a number of organic solvents reduces both its cystine content and its solubility in urea-bisulfite. Some reagents attack the disulfide bond in such a way that hydrogen sulfide is evolved. As, however, no lanthionine has been found, and the effect due to lysinoalanine is not yet known, it could be claimed that no correlation exists between cystine breakdown and reduction in solubility. The latter is probably due to physical changes of the keratin molecule, and it is affected by the temperature of the treatment and the size of the molecule. Purification of wool by extraction in a Soxhlet apparatus with diethylether and ethanol reduces the solubility and must be avoided. Petroleum ether of either low or high boiling range or extraction in the cold with diethylether and ethanol has no effect on the solubility.