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Carbohydrates:
Carbohydrates are known as sugar and composed of monosaccharides, disaccharides, and
polysaccharides. Monosaccharides cannot be broken down into simple sugar whereas
disaccharides and polysaccharides can be broken into simple sugars. Saccharides mainly consist
of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. A monosaccharides general formula is CnH2nOn, where the
integer n is at least 3 and rarely more than 6. Monosaccharides also contain the hydroxyl
(alcohol, OH) functional group, whereas disaccharides and polysaccharides contain both the
hydroxyl (alcohol, OH) functional group and a glycosidic bond between two simple sugar
molecules.
How to Name Acyclic Monosaccharide:
Acyclic monosaccharides have three different characteristics: the number of carbon atoms it
contains, its D or L configuration, and the placement of its carbonyl group (aldehyde or ketone).
These characteristics are combined to name monosaccharide carbohydrates.
Three carbon monosaccharides are called trioses, four carbon are called tetroses, five carbon are
called pentoses, six carbon are hexoses, and so on. The number of carbon atoms in a molecule is
used in the suffix of carbohydrate naming.
The carbonyl group is placed at the beginning of the saccharide. If the carbonyl group is an
aldehyde (more common in carbohydrates), then the monosaccharide is an aldose, and if the
carbonyl group is a ketone, then the monosaccharide is a ketose.
A monosaccharide is given D configuration if the hydroxyl group is to the right of the last
stereocenter in a Fischer projection, whereas L configuration is given if the OH is to the left of
the last stereocenter carbon. D or L is usually put in the beginning of the carbohydrate when
naming the molecule.
Note: Designation of D or L relates the configuration of a given molecule and does not specify the sign (+ or -) of
rotation of plane-polarized light.
L-aldopentose
More examples:
D-ketohexose
This disaccharide is 1,4- - glucopyranosyl-glucopyranose. The 1-4 comes from the carbons
attached to the glycosidic bond. It is because carbon 1 and carbon 4 are cis to CH2OH. It is
glucopyranosyl because the first molecule is glucose. Glucopyranose comes from the second
structure because it is glucose.
Figure 3: Lactose
This disaccharide is 1,4- - galactopyranosyl-glucopyranose. The 1-4 comes from the carbons
attached to the glycosidic bond. It is because carbon 1 and carbon 4 are cis to CH2OH. It is
galactopyranosyl because the first sugar molecule is galactose. Glucopyranose comes from the
second structure because it is glucose.
How to Name Cyclic Polysaccharides
The most common polysaccharides are cellulose (Figure 1) and starch (Figure 2).
Figure 1: Cellulose
This polysaccharide is 1,4- -glucopyranose polymer. All of the individual sugars are glucose
so the prefix is gluco and they all contain 6 carbons so its a pyranose. It is because carbon 1
and carbon 4 are cis to CH2OH. The word polymer is added because its a chain of glucose.
Figure 2: Starch
This polysaccharide is 1,4- -glucopyranose polymer. All of the individual sugars are glucose so
the prefix is gluco and they all contain 6 carbons so its a pyranose. It is because carbon 1 and
carbon 4 are trans to CH2OH. The word polymer is added because its a chain of glucose.
Summary:
Work Cited
Carbohydrates. <http://web.virginia.edu/Heidi/chapter7/chp7frameset.htm>.
Dr. Hardingers Thinkbook and Lecture Supplement
Metzker, Julia.Carbohydrates.
<http://chemphys.gcsu.edu/~metzker/Survey/Notes/16.Carbohydrates.html>.
Molecule Images from Google Images
Wikipedia