Autocatalytic reaction in hydrolysis of difructose anhydride III.

Hydrolysis of several polysaccharides in neutral and weak acid environment has been shown to exhibit autocatalytic behavior. Because the pH value of the solution decreases during hydrolysis, it has been proposed that proton is the catalyst of the autocatalytic reaction. We monitored the hydrolysis of difructose anhydride III (DFA III) in both strong and weak acid environment using Raman spectroscopy and found that it is also an autocatalytic reaction.