(M ay 17, 196 1) n -Ma nni tols, la beled eit her wi t h carbo n-14 at C l , C2, or C3, o r wi t h tri tium a t tached to C l , C2, or C3, were prepa red . After oxidatio n by Acetobacter suboxydans, t he dist ribu tio n of r adi oactivity in each of t he r es ul t in g labeled n-fructoses wa det er mined . La beled nma nni tol is uni que a mong t he hexito ls in t ha t i t may be ox idi zed by A . suboxydans in eit her t he la beled or t he unl a beled p ar t of t he molecule. Excep t in t he oxidat ion of n-man ni tol-2-t, t he co mpet ing reactio ns r es ult in t he formation o f a mi xt ure of D-fr uctoses, ea ch hav in g ra di oact ivity in on e of t wo d ifferen t posit ion s. H cnce, t he iso to pe effect, k */ k, (where k * a nd k are, r es pectively, t he rate co ns tan ts for ox idatio n ill t he la beled and in t he unla beled part of t he la beled D-ma n nitol molecule) is t he ratio of t he act ivit ies at the t wo positions of t he produ ct, n-fructose.The follo win g isoto pe eff ects were fou nd for t he bacteri al oxid a t ion of la beled D-mannito ls : (1 ) for n-ma n ni tol-2-C14, k * / k = 0.93 ; (2) for n-mannito l-2-t, Ie * /k = 0.23; a nd (3) for D-ma nni to l-3-t, k */k = 0.70 . For n-m a nni to ls la beled at other positio ns, no isotop e effect was detected, s ince k */ k was uni t y . The large isotope-effect fo r n-ma nn itol-2-t is in d icat ive of rup t ure of t he C2-H bo nd in t he ra t e-d etermin in g process. It is s ugges ted t hat t he seco ndar y isoto pe-effect for t ri t iu m a t C3 indi cat es hyper co njugation of t he C3 h ydroge n ato m in t he activa ted enzy me-s ubstrate co mplex ; t he lack o f s uch effect fo r t ri t iu m at Cl may be du e to unfa vora ble s teric co ndi tions fo r hypercon ju ga t io n of t he Cl h ydroge n a to ms in the co mplex. The fo llo wing su bst a nces wer e p repa red a nd t heir isoto pic dist ribu t ions d ete rmin ed : n-fr uctose-l ,6-C" a nd n-fr uctose-l ,6-t (fr o m I-la beled n-m a nnito ls); n-fru ctose-2,5-C14 a nd n-fru ctose-5-t (from 2-la beled n-m a nni tols); and n-fr uctose-3,4-C14 a nd n-fru ctose-3,4 -t (fro m 3-1a beled D-ma nni tols). A procedure, e mploy in g n-fru ctose-J ,6-C14 as a n int ern al sta ndard , was d ev ised for t he analysis of D-fru ctose-3,4-t.