Oxidation and destruction of arabinogalactan and pectins under the action of hydrogen peroxide and ozone-oxygen mixture

We summarize data on the kinetics of the oxidative transformations of natural polysaccharides (arabinogalactan, citrous and apple pectins) under the action of the hydrogen peroxide and ozone-oxygen mixture in water solutions. The oxidation of biopolymers is accompanied by the destruction of their molecules leading to the creation of low-molecular polymer products with additional functional groups. Variation of the conditions for the process (oxidation time, temperature, biopolymer and oxidizer concentration) allows us to control the destruction rate of the polysaccharides as well as the functionalization rate of the created low-molecular products. We show that the oxidation of the polysaccharides goes by a radical mechanism. We propose a possible scheme of the oxidative transformations of the polysaccharides.