Uploaded May 2019 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Tollens test was named after its discoverer, the German chemist Bernhard Tollens. Tollens' reagent is used to determine the presence of aldehyde, aromatic aldehyde, and alpha-hydroxy ketone functional groups. In biochemistry it can be used to distunguish monosaccharides havinig aldehyde group vs monosaccharide having ketone group. The reagent consists of a solution of silver nitrate and ammonia. the monosaccharide is oxidized to respective acid while the silver ions are reduced to metallic silver which results in formation of silver mirror on the surface of the testube. Hence this test is also called silver mirror test.
Tollens test was named after its discoverer, the German chemist Bernhard Tollens. Tollens' reagent is used to determine the presence of aldehyde, aromatic aldehyde, and alpha-hydroxy ketone functional groups. In biochemistry it can be used to distunguish monosaccharides havinig aldehyde group vs monosaccharide having ketone group. The reagent consists of a solution of silver nitrate and ammonia. the monosaccharide is oxidized to respective acid while the silver ions are reduced to metallic silver which results in formation of silver mirror on the surface of the testube. Hence this test is also called silver mirror test.
