An X-ray study of mannitol, dulcitol, and mannose

Abstract

Abstract The present work was undertaken in the hope that a convenient avenue of approach to the structure of the sugars might be opened up by the two hexose alcohols, mannitol and dulcitol, which give excellent crystals at ordinary temperatures. It is not unreasonable to expect that isomers such as these, with very similar densities, might show in the dimensions of their unit cells certain similarities suggestive of some form of molecule common to the hexose alcohols, as the long-chain configuration is common to the hydrocarbons and the fatty acids. In addition, a collateral examination of mannose might equally well be expected to yield some evidence as to the nature of the change which takes place when a sugar is formed from the corresponding alcohol, and hence to supply data of fundamental importance in correlating the structures of the sugars and of their derivatives.