Occurrence of 2‐O‐methylrhamnose and 4‐o‐methylgalactose in soil and peat

Hydrolysates of the soluble polysaccharide fraction from a well decomposed peat contained small amounts of 4‐ O ‐methyl‐D‐galactose and 2‐ O ‐methyl‐L‐rhamnose. the first‐named sugar has not hitherto been isolated from natural sources. Its isolation supports a connexion between the occurrence of methylated sugars in Nature and the position of the linkage in related polysaccharides. the sugars were isolated from the complex mixture by gradient elution from Ultrasorb charcoal followed by partition chromatography on Celite columns with a butanol‐light petroleum solvent. The significance of the occurrence of these sugars is discussed. It is suggested that the stability of the polysaccharides in soil may be associated with the presence of the methylated sugar units.