Stoichiometric C6-oxidation of hyaluronic acid by oxoammonium salt TEMPO⁺Cl⁻ in an aqueous alkaline medium.

This paper reports the selective oxidation of hyaluronic acid (HA) by stoichiometric quantity of 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxoammonium chloride (TEMPO(+)) in aqueous alkaline medium. High efficiency of the HA oxidation and quantitative yield of carboxy-HA per starting TEMPO(+), as well as unusual behavior of the oxidation system generating an oxygen upon alkali-induced oxoammonium chloride decomposition are demonstrated. The scheme for HA oxidation involving both TEMPO(+) and oxygen produced upon the TEMPO(+)Cl(-) decomposition and/or air oxygen is proposed. For comparison, the data on stoichiometric oxidation of such substrates as dermatan sulfate, water-soluble potato starch, methyl 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-β-d-glucopyranoside and ethanol are presented.