Article ID: 25668
In recent years, interest in rare sugars has been increasing. The conversion of common sugars into rare ones can be broadly classified into two approaches: biochemical methods which utilize biocatalysts such as enzymes and microorganisms, and chemical methods which rely on the Lobry de Bruyn-Alberda van Ekenstein (LBAE) transformation under alkaline conditions. Although the biochemical approach offers high selectivity, it is labor-intensive requiring extensive effort to identify suitable catalysts. This paper focuses on the chemical approach, which, while less selective, offers greater versatility. Specifically, this paper provides an overview of several methods for producing rare sugars from common reducing sugars under subcritical water conditions. These methods include homogeneous reactions in subcritical water, aqueous organic solvents, buffer solutions, and basic amino acid solutions, as well as heterogeneous reactions using eggshells or seashells which are primarily composed of calcium carbonate.
