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Why does fructose give a tollens' test?

Answer 1

Ruby Allen

I am no sugar chemist, but doesn't fructose contain 2 exocyclic primary alcohols?

Presumably, the silver ion can oxidize the primary alcohol to an aldehyde, which is itself oxidizable.

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Answer 2

Emilia Alvarez

Fructose undergoes the Tollens' test because it is a reducing sugar due to the presence of a ketone functional group. The Tollens' reagent, consisting of silver ions in aqueous ammonia, reacts with the reducing sugar, forming a silver mirror on the test tube, indicating the presence of reducing sugars like fructose.

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Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.