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INTRODUCTION
Carbohydrates are the single most abundant
class of organic molecules found in nature,
constituting one of the four major classes of
biomolecules. The other three are proteins, nucleic
acids and lipids.
Carbohydrates are aldehyde or ketone
compounds with multiple hydroxyl groups. The
name carbohydrate arises from the basic molecular
formula (C.H2O)n which shows that these
substances are hydrates of carbon, where n=
number of carbon atoms ( 3 or more).
When the functional group is an aldehyde they
are known as aldoses e.g.glyceraldehyde,
glucose.
When the functional group is a keto group they
are referred to as ketoses e.g. dihydroxyacetone,
fructose
KETOSES
Definition
DIASACCHARIDES
These carbohydrates yield two molecules of
monosaccharides when hydrolysed.
MALTOSE
GLUCOSE + GLUCOSE
SUCROSE
GLUCOSE + FRUCTOSE
LACTOSE
GLUCOSE + GALACTOSE
OLIGOSACCHARIDES
They yield three to ten molecules of
monosaccharides on hydrolysis, example is
Maltotriose which is a trisaccharide containing
three glucose residues.
POLYSACCHARIDES
They yield more than ten molecules of
monosaccharides on hydrolysis. They may be
either linear or branched polymers and may
contain hundreds or even thousands of
monosaccharide units . Examples are starch,
glycogen, dextran.
Properties of Monosaccharides In Reference to
Glucose
No Asymmetric Carbon 4
Optical Isomerism or Stereoisomerism
Optical isomerism or stereoisomerism is the
ability of substances to be present in more than
one form. It is due to the presence of asymmetric
carbon atom. These forms are named optical
isomers.
So optical isomers or stereoisomers or isomers
are compounds that have same structural formula
but differ in their configuration around the
asymmetric carbon atom.
A substance containing more than one
asymmetric carbon atom can exist in a number of
isomers equal to 2n, where n equal to the number
of asymmetric carbon atoms e.g Glucose has 4