Question

Complete hydrolysis of cellulose gives

Answer 1

• Cellulose is a complex carbohydrate consisting of oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen.
• Cellulose is a linear chain polysaccharide composed only of β-D-glucose units, which are joined by the glycosidic linkage between C-1 of one glucose unit and C-4 of the next glucose unit.
• The chemical formula of cellulose is ${\left({\mathrm{C}}_6{\mathrm{H}}_{10}{\mathrm{O}}_5\right)}_{\mathrm{n}}$.

• The complete hydrolysis of cellulose gives D-glucose.

Mechanism includes:

• First of all ${\mathrm{H}}^{+}$ ion get attached to the glycosidic linkage in which the oxygen gets a positive charge.
• To stabilise the structure, the β-1,4-glycosidic bonds undergo breakage.
• One molecule of water is again added to the resulting compound to produce β-D-glucose with the release of ${\mathrm{H}}^{+}$ ion.
• Thus, the breakage of the β-1,4-glycosidic bonds by acids leads to the hydrolysis of cellulose polymers, resulting in the sugar molecule glucose.