Figure 3.

Carboxylic acids spiked into a formose solution. The red spectral lines represent the spiked-in set, and include added lactic acid, glycolic acid, and acetic acid to a formose solution. The black spectral lines represent the formose products with no additional carboxylic acids spiked-in. Spectra were measured from a formose reaction run at pH 12.5 and 120 °C catalyzed using Ca²⁺.The abbreviations G, A, and L stand for glycolic acid, acetic acid, and lactic acid, respectively. This reaction was performed at pH 12.5, 120 °C, the product solution was cooled and titrated to pH 7.5 before NMR analysis.