Saccharic acid
chemical compound
Saccharic acid or glucaric acid is a chemical compound with the formula C6H10O8. It is an aldaric acid, naturally occurring in fruits and vegetables.
The salts of saccharic acid are called saccharates or glucarates.
Synthesis
Saccharic acid can be prepared by oxidizing both the aldehydic and primary alcohol groups in an aldose, such as glucose, forming the dicarboxylic acid. A suitable reagent for this transformation is boiling 30% nitric acid, resulting in a yield of 50% to 65%. This reaction was first described by German chemist Heinrich Kiliani in 1925.
Uses
Detergents
The sodium salt has found use in dishwasher detergents, where it acts as a chelating agent for calcium and magnesium ions. It is considered more environmentally friendly than phosphates, which are more commonly encountered in detergent formulations.
Dietary supplement
Saccharic acid salts have found use in dietary supplements, where they act as precursors to the β-glucuronidase inhibitor saccharolactone (d-glucaro-1,4-lactone). Some preclinical studies have demonstrated saccharolactone to have anticancerogenic and detoxification properties, although more clinical research is needed to confirm health impacts in humans.
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Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q424636. The Library of Congress control number is sh2017000294. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1925.
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This entry incorporates text from “Saccharic acid” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.