Synthesis and Properties of Menthyl Glycosides

With an aim of developing menthol derivatives having good solubility in water, the glycosidation reaction of menthols was extensively investigated, such as the condensation of menthols with acetobromoglucose by the method of Koenig-Rnorr and that with fully acetylated sugars in the presence of acidic catalysts. The water-solubility of menthyl monosaccharides was generally poor, but that of menthyl disaccharides was good enough for practical usage as food additives and medicines. Furthermore, these glycosides derivatives were advantageously utilized for optical resolution of dl-menthol because of their high crystallinity.