A novel sialic acid and fucose-containing disaccharide isolated from the jelly coat of sea urchin eggs.

In our previous investigations, two sialic acids were isolated from the jelly coat of the eggs of the sea urchin Pseudocentrotus depepr~ssl~s; one was N-glycolylneuraminic arid, the other was W-acctoglycolyl-4-methyl-4,9-dideosyncuraminic acid (2). The presence of additional sialic acid compounds was detected in the mixt’urc resulting from mild acid hydrolysis of the starting material (1). Isolation and purification of one of these perceptible disaccharides and its eventual characterization as a sialic acid and fucose containing compound are the subjects of this present study.