Preparation of Leuconic Acid from Inositol

In connection with other synthetic work we had need to prepare laboratory quantities of the interesting polyketone leuconic acid (cyclopentanepentone pentahydrate, I). In 1921 Contardi1 reported that oxidation of myo-inositol (II) with nitric acid gives leuconic acid directly. Subsequently Gelormini and Artz2 showed that the reaction affords a complex mixture of products containing only small amounts of leuconic acid. The stepwise oxidation of myo-inositol, however, represents a convenient and inexpensive route to leuconic acid.