Determination of uronic acids in natural materials by the decarboxylation method

Summary A preferred variant of the decarboxylation method for the determination of uronic acids is proposed which uses 57% hydriodic acid and the direct nonaqueous titration of the CO₂ formed. The range of concentrations of uronic acids that can be determined is from 2 to 100 µM. The sensitivity of the method is 1.5 µM, its reproducibility 0.6%, and the time of one determination 40–50 min. The proposed variant of the method is applicable to the study of various polysaccharides and other carbohy drate-containing biopolymers.Pacific Ocean Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Far Eastern Scientific Center of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Vladivostok. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 1, pp. 10–13, January–February, 1976.