A.m.  Jour.  Pharm.\ 
July,  1901.  f 
.Developments  in  Organic  Compounds. 
327 
molecule  contains  one  oxygen  less  than  carbon  without  the  sweet 
taste  suffering,  for  this  reason  the  disaccharides  (sucrose)  are  sweet 
and  the  tri  and  poly-saccharides  are  tasteless. 
On  replacing  the  alkyl  radical  in  glucoses  by  a  phenyl,  an 
intense  bitter  substance  results. 
CH, 
CHOH 
I 
CHOH 
I 
CH2OH 
Butenyl  Glycerol 
Sweet. 
C6H5 
I 
CHOH 
I 
CHOH 
I 
CH2OH 
Phenyl  Glycerol 
Bitter. 
The  natural  glucosides  are  bitter  because  they  are  mostly  phenol 
derivatives. 
Symmetry  of  the  hydroxylated  compound  is  also  necessary,  thus 
those  di  and  tri-hydric  phenols  whose  substituting  groups  occupy 
the  symmetrical  meta  position  are  sweet,  for  example : 
OH 
Resorcin 
m-dioxy-benzole 
sweet 
OH 
Pyrocatechin 
o.dioxy-benzole 
bitter 
OH 
H 
Phloroglucin 
symmetric 
sweet  OH 
OH 
OH 
Pyrogallol 
bitter 
OH 
X|OH 
loH 
The  amido  group  (NH,)  lends  a  sweet  taste  to  hydrocarbons 
under  the  conditions  that  a  negative  carboxyl  group  (COOH)  is 
present  and  the  other  groupings  are  closely  linked  thus  the  ortho- 
amido-salicylic  acid  is  feebly  sweet,  while  the  para  ai.d  m  la  com- 
pounds are  tasteless. 
NH2 
OH 
Ortho-amido-salicylic  acid 
COOH 
