IvTew York Agricultural Experiment Station. 125 



both inosite and phytin yield furfurol when distilled with phosphorus 

 pentoxide and phosphoric acid, respectively, lead him to believe 

 that the inosite ring exists already formed in phytin. In accordance 

 with this view he proposed the following structural formula for 

 the acid: 







(0H)3P 







P(OH)a 



O 



(0H)3 



0< 



CH— CH 



P — — C 



H CH — — P 



(0H)3 



iO 



(0H)3 P — — CH— CH — O — P (0H)3 



This is just treble the molecular weight of the anhydro oxymethylen 

 di-phosphoric acid of Posternak. 



Suzuki and Yoshimura^ considered that phytic acid was the 

 hexa-phosphoric acid ester of inosite. 



Starkenstein^ believes that phytin represents a complex pyro- 

 phosphoric acid compound with inosite and he proposes the follcw- 

 mg constitutional formula: 



Vorbrodt (loc. cit.) proposes still another formula. 



1 Bull. College of Agric., Tokyo, 7: 495. 

 ^ Biocheni. Ztschr. 30: 56. 



