Synthesis of dispirodioxanyl pseudo-oligosaccharides by selective protonic activation of isomeric glycosylfructoses in anhydrous hydrogen fluoride

Carbon Dioxide as a Traceless Caramelization Promotor: Preparation of Prebiotic Difructose Dianhydrides (DFAs)-Enriched Caramels from d-Fructose

Activation of a concentrated solution of d-fructose with carbonic acid, generated from carbon dioxide, induces the formation of difructose dianhydrides (DFAs) and their glycosylated derivatives (glycosyl-DFAs), a family of prebiotic oligosaccharides. Under optimized conditions, up to 70% of the active DFA species were obtained from a highly concentrated solution of fructose, avoiding the filtration step and contamination risk associated with the current procedures that employ heterogeneous catalysis with acid ion-exchange resins. The optimized CO₂-promoted preparation of DFA-enriched caramel described here has been already successfully scaled up to 150 kg of d-fructose for nutritional studies, showing that implementation of this process is possible at a larger scale.

Di-D-fructose dianhydride-enriched products by acid ion-exchange resin-promoted caramelization of D-fructose: chemical analyses

Caramelization commonly occurs when sugars, or products containing a high proportion of sugars, are heated either dry or in concentrated aqueous solutions, alone or in the presence of certain additives. Upon thermal treatment of sugars, dehydration and self-condensation reactions occur, giving rise to volatiles (principally 2-hydroxymethylfurfural, HMF), pigments (melanoidines) and oligosaccharidic material, among which di-D-fructose dianhydrides (DFAs) and glycosylated DFA derivatives of different degree of polymerization (DP) have been identified. This study reports a methodology to produce caramel-like products with a high content of DFAs and oligosaccharides thereof from commercial D-fructose based on the use of acid ion-exchange resins as caramelization promotors. The rate of formation of these compounds as a function of D-fructose concentration, catalyst proportion, temperature, catalyst nature and particle size has been investigated. The use of sulfonic acid resins allows conducting caramelization at remarkable low temperatures (70-90 degrees C) to reach conversions into DFA derivatives up to 70-80% in 1-2 h, with relative proportions of HMF < 2%.The relative abundance of individual DFA structures can be modulated by acting on the catalyst nature and reaction conditions, which offers a unique opportunity for nutritional studies of DFA-enriched products with well-defined compositions.

Chemical and enzymatic approaches to carbohydrate-derived spiroketals: di-D-fructose dianhydrides (DFAs)

Di-D-fructose dianhydrides (DFAs) comprise a unique family of stereoisomeric spiro-tricyclic disaccharides formed upon thermal and/or acidic activation of sucrose- and/ or D-fructose-rich materials. The recent discovery of the presence of DFAs in food products and their remarkable nutritional features has attracted considerable interest from the food industry. DFAs behave as low-caloric sweeteners and have proven to exert beneficial prebiotic nutritional functions, favouring the growth of Bifidobacterium spp. In the era of functional foods, investigation of the beneficial properties of DFAs has become an important issue. However, the complexity of the DFA mixtures formed during caramelization or roasting of carbohydrates by traditional procedures (up to 14 diastereomeric spiroketal cores) makes evaluation of their individual properties a difficult challenge. Great effort has gone into the development of efficient procedures to obtain DFAs in pure form at laboratory and industrial scale. This paper is devoted to review the recent advances in the stereoselective synthesis of DFAs by means of chemical and enzymatic approaches, their scope, limitations, and complementarities.

Chemical and enzymatic approaches to carbohydrate-derived spiroketals: di-D-fructose dianhydrides (DFAs)

Di-D-fructose dianhydrides (DFAs) comprise a unique family of stereoisomeric spiro-tricyclic disaccharides formed upon thermal and/or acidic activation of sucrose- and/ or D-fructose-rich materials. The recent discovery of the presence of DFAs in food products and their remarkable nutritional features has attracted considerable interest from the food industry. DFAs behave as low-caloric sweeteners and have proven to exert beneficial prebiotic nutritional functions, favouring the growth of Bifidobacterium spp. In the era of functional foods, investigation of the beneficial properties of DFAs has become an important issue. However, the complexity of the DFA mixtures formed during caramelization or roasting of carbohydrates by traditional procedures (up to 14 diastereomeric spiroketal cores) makes evaluation of their individual properties a difficult challenge. Great effort has gone into the development of efficient procedures to obtain DFAs in pure form at laboratory and industrial scale. This paper is devoted to review the recent advances in the stereoselective synthesis of DFAs by means of chemical and enzymatic approaches, their scope, limitations, and complementarities.

Carbohydrate-derived spiroketals. Stereoselective synthesis of di-D-fructose dianhydrides by boron trifluoride promoted glycosylation-spiroketalization of acetal precursors

[reaction: see text] Di-D-fructose 1,2':2,1'-dianhydrides, dispiro-tricyclic disaccharides widely found in food materials, have been stereoselectively prepared in one-pot reaction from O-protected D-fructose 1,2-acetonide precursors by treatment with boron trifluoride diethyl etherate. The dimerization sequence involves (i) cleavage of the anomeric acetal linkage, (ii) autoglycosylation, and (iii) final spiroketalization, the stereochemical outcome being strongly dependent on the nature of the hydroxyl protecting groups.

Qualitative and quantitative evaluation of mono- and disaccharides in D-fructose, D-glucose and sucrose caramels by gas-liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Di-D-fructose dianhydrides as tracers of caramel authenticity

The monosaccharide (D-fructose, D-glucose, anhydrosugars), disaccharide (glucobioses) and pseudodisaccharide (di-D-fructose dianhydrides) content of D-fructose, D-glucose and sucrose caramels has been determined by gas-liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (GLC-MS) of their trimethylsilyl (TMS) or TMS-oxime derivatives. The chromatographic profiles revealed significant differences in the disaccharide/pseudodisaccharide distribution depending on the caramel source: a D-fructose caramel contains prominent proportions of di-D-fructose dianhydrides, a D-glucose caramel mainly D-glucobioses, and a sucrose caramel similar proportions of both disaccharide/pseudodisaccharide series. It is noteworthy that di-D-fructose dianhydrides are found in all three types of caramels and might then be used as specific tracers of the authenticity of caramel, i.e., a product resulting from the controlled heat treatment of food-grade carbohydrates for use as food additives.

Di-D-fructose dianhydrides and related oligomers from thermal treatments of inulin and sucrose

Thermal treatment of anhydrous, acidified sucrose or inulin yields caramels containing monosaccharides and oligomers, predominantly dianhydrides and higher oligomers derived by the addition of glycosyl residues to dianhydrides. Fourteen dianhydrides, most of which comprise two fructose moieties, have been identified by mass spectroscopy of the per-O-trimethylsilyl ethers. Thirteen of these dianhydrides have been isolated and characterized; five of the dianhydrides are novel compounds and one of these is a glucose-fructose dianhydride. The dianhydrides and related oligomers are thought to have a prebiotic effect by stimulating the proliferation of bifidobacteria in the large intestine.

Protonic reactivity of sucrose in anhydrous hydrogen fluoride

Sucrose reacts quantitatively, when dissolved at high concentration in anhydrous hydrogen fluoride, to afford a complex mixture of difructose dianhydrides and their glucosylated derivatives. Oligo- and small poly-saccharides up to dp 14 were detected by FABMS. Oligosaccharides up to dp 4, representing approximately 50% of the total mixture, have been isolated and characterized by mass spectrometry, 13C NMR spectroscopy, and comparison with reference oligosaccharides previously obtained by unambiguous synthesis. alpha-D-Fructofuranose beta-D-fructopyranose 1,2':2,1'-dianhydride is the main spirodioxanyl pseudodisaccharide entity found in the mixture, either free or glucosylated at C-6 and to a lesser extent at C-3, C-4, C-4', C-6, and C-5' C-6. Minor spirodioxanyl pseudodisaccharide components are di-beta-D-fructopyranose 1,2':2,1'-dianhydride, which has also been found glucosylated at C-5, alpha-D-fructopyranose beta-D-fructopyranose 1,2':2,1'-dianhydride, beta-D-fructofuranose beta-D-fructopyranose 1,2':2,3'-dianhydride, and the 6,6'-diglucosylated alpha-D-fructofuranose beta-D-fructofuranose 1,2':2,1'-dianhydride. A 13C NMR examination of the higher mass oligomeric fraction suggests that it may involve 6-O-isomaltooligoglycosyl alpha-D-fructofuranose beta-D-fructopyranose 1,2':2,1'-dianhydrides as the main structural components. The reaction of sucrose in anhydrous HF is believed to proceed through initial selective protonic activation of the tertiary anomeric carbon atom of the fructose moiety, resulting in the quantitative formation of difructose dianhydrides, which subsequently suffer electrophilic substitution by glucopyranosyl oxocarbenium ions generated in a second step by action of the HF.