Recent studies concerning the formose reaction which was analyzed by measuring the oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) of the reaction mixture were reviewed. Some appreciable transition points in the ORP curve show satisfactory the occurence of a phase change, such as the induction period, the formose - forming and the suger - decomposing stages. The linear relations between the concentration of the dissolved calcium ion species and the induction period (T
min) and the formose -forming period (T
max -T
min), namely T
min = a [CaOH
+] +c and T
max - T
min =a [CaOH
+] + b [Ca (OH)
2] +c, were obtained, suggesting that CaOH
+ is the principle catalytic species in the induction period, while both CaOH
+ and Ca (OH)
2 are effective in the formose - forming step. When the major parts of the dissolved calcium ions were removed as sparingly soluble salts or chelate complexes at the end of the induction period (T
min), a selective formose reaction was found to occur giving three kinds of branched sugar alcohols. The effects of other added metal hydroxides on the formose-forming step and the product distributions are also examined.
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