Photolysis of the d-glycosides: α benzylfructofuranoside, β benzylfructopyranoside,and α and β phenyl,benzyl and β phenylethyl glucosides; and the bearing of the data upon the transfer of energy within molecules

Direct absorption of light by glycosides dissolved in water has been discovered to produce changes in optical activities and formation of material which reduces the Shaffer, Hartmann, Somogyi reagent. Comparison of these measurements indicates in many cases the same products as are formed by hydrolysis in acid. The β glucosides and α fructoside, however, apparently give optically inactive photolytic products.Absorption spectra were obtained for α benzylfructofuranoside and β benzylfructopyranoside, and were found to be the same in the near ultraviolet as those previously obtained for benzyl glucosides and benzyl alcohol.The absorption spectrum for freshly purified fructose gives a deeper minimum about λ240 mμ than the previously reported values. The latter, however, were approached when the dry crystals had stood in air for several months although no change occurred in their sp.rot., m.p. or general apperance.All the glycosides studied were white crystalline compounds. Less than five per cent. of the ultraviolet light of λ254 mμ they absorb produces reaction; nevertheless, the apparatus and procedures available were adequate to study the reaction conveniently in monochromatic light of this wave-length.The absorption spectra, the products of photolysis, and the quantum yields, the latter based on the reducing material formed, lead to the hypothesis that the photochemical reaction is produced by an intramolecular transfer of absorbed energy from the aglycone to the hemiacetal oxygen bridge which is the reactive center. The efficiency of this transfer is, as expected, greater for benzyl than for phenylethyl glucosides but phenyl glucosides, contrariwise, are the least efficient.The structure and energy possessed by the glycoside outside the aglycone have no measurable effect on the efficiency of the photochemical reaction when followed by measuring the reducing material produced although they change up to one hundred thousand fold the rates of the thermal hydrolyses in acid.     

Enacting taboos as a means to an end; but what end? On the morality of motivations for child murder and paedophilia within gamespace

Video games are currently available which permit the virtual murder of children. No such games are presently available which permit virtual paedophilia. Does this disparity reflect a morally justifiable position? Focusing solely on different player motivations, I contrast two version of a fictitious game—one permitting the virtual murder of children, the other virtual paedophilia—in order to establish whether the selective prohibition of one activity over the other can be morally justified based on player motivation alone. I conclude that it cannot, for reasons discussed.