CHEM2701 Determining the rate Hydrolysing Sucrose gunt0028

Determining the rate of Hydrolysis of

Sucrose
Aim: To determine the rate of the hydrolysis of sucrose using polarimetry.

Background:
Hydrolysis is a common decomposition reaction where a reactant (water) is used to break down the
chemical bonds that exist between a particular substance (Helmenstine, 2019). It may also be
considered a reverse of a condensation reaction, where two molecules combine with each other,
producing water as one of the products (Helmenstine, 2019). A catalysed hydrolysis is where in a
biological system, an enzyme can be used to catalyse the reaction. A catalyse is a substance that
lowers the activation energy required to complete the reaction, thus increases the rate the reaction
occurs (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, 2016).

Acid hydrolysis can be used to prepare a monosaccharide, derived from a disaccharide such as
sucrose (Chen, 2015). Acids such as hydrochloric acid (HCL) are commonly used for acid hydrolysis.

Figure 1,

Sucrose is a molecule composed of two monosaccharides such as glucose and fructose. The
disaccharide has a chemical formula of C12H22O11 (BYJU'S, 2023). Within the sucrose molecule, the
glucose and fructose molecules are connected via a glycosidic bond, this type of linking is also called
a glycosidic linkage (Ahmed, 2022). Glycosidic bond/ linkage is a type of
ether bond (covalent chemical bond) that joins carbohydrate (sugar)
molecule to another R group, which could be another carbohydrate
molecule (Ahmed, 2022). Sucrose has a monoclinic crystal-like structure
and is very soluble in water.
Figure 2,

Polarimetry is a type of measurement of the optical rotation of substances using a polarimeter. The
polarimeter is an instrument which can measure the angle of rotation by passing a polarised light

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CHEM2701 Determining the rate Hydrolysing Sucrose gunt0028

though an optically active (chiral) substance (Basics of Polarimetry, n.d.). Chirality is the geometrical
property of a molecule, which is the mirror-image geometries are named chiral. Chiral molecules are
typically organic molecules and biomolecules such as sugars (Chemical Dictionary, 2020).

Chiral molecules can rotate the plane of polarized light, this property is referred to as optical activity.
The left and right enantiomers turn the polarization plane in opposite directions, the angle of the
polarization plane is rotated is called optical rotation which is measure in degrees [°OR] with a
polarimeter (Chemical Dictionary, 2020).

Sucrose is dextrorotatory as well as glucose, which refers to their optically active properties that
rotate the plane of polarised light clockwise (Chemical Dictionary, 2020). Fructose however is
laevorotatory meaning that it rotates anti-clockwise, the equimolar mixture of both fructose and
glucose is laevorotatory as the laevorotatory fructose has a greater molar rotation (Basics of
Polarimetry, n.d.). The rotation is determined at the beginning of the reaction and the end, this
algebraic difference between the two readings is a measure of the original concentration of the
sucrose which this value is used to determine the rate.

Materials / Method

Results
Initial reading was 66.27.

Time Absorption
(minutes) (A) Acid Hydrolysis of Sucrose at 25 degrees
0 3.67 3.5
2 3.26 3
Absorbance of light absrobed

4 2.77 2.5
6 2.03 2
8 1.59 1.5
10 1.39 1
12 1.10 0.5
14 0.97 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
16 0.30 -0.5
18 0.25 -1
20 0.15 -1.5
22 -0.05 Time (Minutes)
24 -0.07
26 -0.34
28 -0.46
30 Figure 3, graph of hydrolysis
-0.72
32 -0.98
34 -1.13
36 -1.31
38 -1.50
40 -1.60

Infinity rating was -11.40

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CHEM2701 Determining the rate Hydrolysing Sucrose gunt0028

Initial reading was 11.65.

Time Absorption
(minutes) Acid Hydrolysis of Sucrose at 35 degrees
(A)
Figure 4,
0 5 3.67
1 4
3.24
Absorbance abstobed by light

2 1.89
3
3 1.56
2
4 1.25
1
5 1.10
6 0 0.09
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
7 -1 0.01
8 -2 -0.12
9 -3 -0.47
10 -4 -0.74
11 -0.97
Time (Minutes)
12 -1.66
13 -1.68
14 -1.72
15 -1.82
16 -2.17
17 -2.53
18 -2.85
19 -3.21
20 -3.25

Analysis

Calculations

Discussion:

- Compare the Ea that was obtained to the theoretical one found in literature

Conclusion:

Appendix:

References

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