SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF D-XYLOFURANOSE-5-PHOSPHATE
Phosphorylation of 1,2-O-isopropylidene-D-xylose with diphenylphosphoro-chloridate yielded crystalline 1,2-O-isopropylidene-D-xylofuranose-5-diphenyl-phosphate. Subsequent hydrogenolysis in glacial acetic acid over Adams' catalyst quantitatively removed phenyl groups as shown by infrared analysis. Mild hydrolysis in acetic acid for two hours at 80 °C. removed the isopropylidene grouping, and D-xylose-5-phosphate was isolated as an amorphous barium salt. A yield of 81% of theoretical was obtained from 1,2-O-isopropylidene-D-xylose, or an over-all yield of 72% from xylose. The product was characterized through its amorphous barium, disodium, and dipotassium salts, and its crystalline dibrucine and distrychnine salts.