The Production of 3-Keto-Derivatives of Disaccharides

The microbial oxidation of disaccharides, and notably of sucrose, offers a route to selective synthesis of new products based on a range of industrially available sugars. Thus sucrose is produced in very large quantities with high purity and at a low price. Its specific properties, like high solubility in water, hydrophilicity, and biocompatibiliy would favor the application of derivatives in many sectors, like surfactants, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. Yet the difficulties of sucrose, and disaccharide chemistry in general, have limited their use in industrial production to very low quantities. These difficulties are due to the high functionality and similarity of the hydroxyl groups in synthetic routes, notably with sucrose as the basic material. Purity and homogeneity are required for the application of new products in the fields mentioned, and for new components in consumer commodities in general.