Carbohydrate

Carbohydrates (literally hydrates of carbon) are chemical compounds that act as the primary biological means of storing or consuming energy, other forms being fat and protein. Relatively complex carbohydrates are known as polysaccharides. Carbohydrates are naturally produced by plants and animals. Sugars and starches are carbohydrates. A more precise definition of carbohydrates could be: Carbohydrates are polyhydroxyaldehydes, or polyhydroxyketones, and their derivatives.

Monosaccharides

Monosaccharides may be divided into aldoses, which have an aldehyde group on the first carbon atom, and ketoses, which typically have a ketone group on the second! They may also be divided into trioses, tetroses, pentoses, hexoses, and so forth, depending on how many carbon atoms they contain. For instance, glucose is an aldohexose, fructose a ketohexose, and ribose an aldopentose.

Related Topics:
Monosaccharide - Aldose - Aldehyde - Ketose - Triose - Tetrose - Pentose - Hexose - Glucose - Aldohexose - Fructose - Ketohexose - Ribose - Aldopentose

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Further, each carbon atom that supports a hydroxyl group (except for the first and last) is optically active, allowing a number of different carbohydrates with the same basic structure. For instance, galactose is an aldohexose but has different properties from glucose because the atoms are arranged differently.

Related Topics:
Optically active - Galactose

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The straight-chain structure described here is only one of the forms a monosaccharide may take. The aldehyde or ketone group may react with a hydroxyl group on a different carbon atom to form a hemiacetal or hemiketal, in which case there is an oxygen bridge between the two carbon atoms, forming a heterocyclic ring. Rings with five and six atoms are called furanose and pyranose forms and exist in equilibrium with the straight-chain form.

Related Topics:
Hemiacetal - Hemiketal

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It should be noted that the ring form has one more optically active carbon than the straight-chain form, and so has both an alpha and a beta form, which interconvert in equilibrium. However, the carbohydrate may further react with an alcohol to form an acetal or ketal, in which case the two forms become distinct. This is the basic type of link between the monosaccharide units of larger carbohydrates.

Related Topics:
Acetal - Ketal

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