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Molisch'stestWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Molisch'stest
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Molisch'stest(namedafterAustrianbotanistHansMolisch)isa
sensitivechemicaltestforthepresenceofcarbohydrates,based
onthedehydrationofthecarbohydratebysulfuricacidor
hydrochloricacidtoproduceanaldehyde,whichcondenseswith
twomoleculesofphenol(usuallynaphthol,thoughother
phenols(e.g.resorcinol,thymol)alsogivecoloredproducts),
resultinginaredorpurplecoloredcompound.

Molisch'stest
Classification

Colorimetricmethod

Analytes

Carbohydrates

Contents
1 Procedure
2 Reaction
3 References
4 Seealso

Procedure
ThetestsolutioniscombinedwithasmallamountofMolisch'sreagent(naphtholdissolvedinethanol)inatest
tube.Aftermixing,asmallamountofconcentratedsulfuricacidisslowlyaddeddownthesidesoftheslopingtest
tube,withoutmixing,toformalayer.Apositivereactionisindicatedbyappearanceofapurpleringatthe
interfacebetweentheacidandtestlayers.

Reaction
Allcarbohydratesmonosaccharides,disaccharides,andpolysaccharidesshouldgiveapositivereaction,and
nucleicacidsandglycoproteinsalsogiveapositivereaction,asallthesecompoundsareeventuallyhydrolyzedto
monosaccharidesbystrongmineralacids.Pentosesarethendehydratedtofurfural,whilehexosesaredehydrated
to5hydroxymethylfurfural.Eitherofthesealdehydes,ifpresent,willcondensewithtwomoleculesofnaphtholto
formapurplecoloredproduct,asillustratedbelowbytheexampleofglucose:

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References
Seealso
Rapidfurfuraltest
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