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what is mutarotation?

Mutarotation  is the spontaneous change in the specific rotation of the optically active compound with time till the equilibrium value.

so, in the solution , the alpha D glucose and beta D glucose exists in the equilibrium as under:-

∝ D glucose  ↔  open chain form ↔ β D glucose

sp. rotation  sp. rotation   sp. rotation

= + 111°  + 52.5°   + 19.2 ° 

 of equilibrium mixture

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Mutarotation means the change in optical rotation of a sugar molecule till it attains equilibrium.

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Mutarotation is the change in the optical rotation that occura by epimerisation( i.e the change in the equilibrium between the two epimers,when the corresponding stereocenters interconvert). cyclic sugars show mutarotation  as alpha and beta  anomeric form interconvert. the optical rotation of the solution depends  on the optical rotation of each anomer and their ratio in the solution. Mutarotation was discovered by French chemist  Dubrunfaut in 1846 when he notice that the specific rotation of aqueous sugar solution changes with time.

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