Hydrolysis of oligosaccharides by sulphonic ion exchangers

The hydrolysis of oligosaccharides by sulphonic ion exchangers has been performed in batch and in column experiments. The rate constants and selectivity are compared with the values obtained in homogeneous phase with H₂SO₄ and polystyrene sulphonic acid. The rate constants are lower in the presence of ion exchangers for dimers and the efficiency decreases as the degree of polymerization of the oligosaccharides increases, because of control by intraparticle diffusion. It is concluded that the ion exchanger process is rather inefficient for higher molecular weight solutes when compared with the corresponding polyelectrolyte or low molecular weight acid.