Why is methyl iodide used in the classical method of exhaustive methylation to determine the positions of glycosidic bonds in a linear polysaccharide?
A) All free hydroxyls become unstable, allowing hydrolysis of only glycosidic bonds to occur in acid.
B) All free hydroxyls become stable, allowing hydrolysis of only glycosidic bonds to occur in acid.
C) All glycosidic bonds react with methyl iodide.
D) All glycosidic bonds become stable for treatment with acid.
E) All glycosidic bonds are hydrolyzed with methyl iodide.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Methyl iodide methylates all free hydroxyl groups, making them stable and preventing them from reacting during acid hydrolysis, which allows only the glycosidic bonds to be hydrolyzed.

Why Is Methyl Iodide Used in the Classical Method of Exhaustive