HYDROLYSIS REACTIONS
Hydrolysis reactions are the breaking down of a substance by inserting water. These reactions are
essentially the reverse of condensation reactions.
In this way, we can break a disaccharide into two monosaccharides:
+
C12H22O11
HO
O
H2O
+
C6H12O6
OH + H2O
HO
C6H12O6
OH + HO
OH
And just as condensation can create polysaccharides from monosaccharides, hydrolysis can break a
polysaccharide down to its component monosaccharides:
(C6H10O5)n
+ nH2O
O
nC6H12O6
O
*
O
[Add water]
C6H12O6
HO
+
OH + HO
C6H12O6
+
OH
+
C6H12O6
HO
+
OH + HO
C6H12O6
OH
*where n represents a very large number (the number of monosaccharides that were in the
polysaccharide).