Carbohydrate structure and transport

Question 1

what is a carbohydrate

Answer 1

it is an energy producing nutrient

Question 2

what is the structure of a basic monosaccharide

Answer 2

(CH2O)n

for every single carbon, there will be 2 hydrogens present

this structure only applies to unmodified monosaccharides, so this doesn’t count for deoxyribose

Question 3

what functional group do glyceraldehydes have

Answer 3

aldehydes

Question 4

what functional group do dihydroxyacetones have

Answer 4

ketones

Question 5

how do you figure out which carbon in your carbohydrate is the alpha or number 1

Answer 5

the most oxidized carbon (the one beside your your carbonyl group)

Question 6

what is the main difference for numbering the carbons for aldoses and ketones?

Answer 6

for aldoses the carbonyl is C1 and for ketones carbonyl is C2

Question 7

why are sugar structures so diverse

Answer 7

because of chirality and isomers

Question 8

isomers

Answer 8

same formula, different structure

Question 9

constitutional isomers

Answer 9

same formula but different order of functional group bonding

Question 10

stereoisomers

Answer 10

same formula and structure but are enantiomers or diastereomers (non mirror image)

Question 11

epimers

Answer 11

different at one asymmetric carbon

Question 12

why are different molecular positions important

Answer 12

it impacts protein interaction

Question 13

what does reducing a sugar mean?

Answer 13

being able to revert a sugar back to its linear form through a redox reaction

in order for this to happen there needs to be a free (-OH) on the anomeric carbon that can be converted back to a C=O (the carbonyl is oxidized to a carboxyl)

Question 14

Glycosidic bonds

Answer 14

these are bonds that link sugars through a condensation reaction

Question 15

what is required to cleave glycosidic bonds

Answer 15

hydrolysis reaction, requiring a water

Question 16

what two monosaccharide sugars combine to form disaccharide sucrose

Answer 16

glucose and fructose

Question 17

why is glycogen important in our bodies

Answer 17

because it stores glucose in long chains and without this the osmotic pressure in our bodies will build

Question 18

at what end are glucose units added and removed?

Answer 18

from the non-reducing end that can’t open back up

Question 19

where is glycogen found

Answer 19

in the liver and muscle

Question 20

which enzymes help cleave/breakdown disaccharides

Answer 20

lactase, maltase, and sucrase

Question 21

how do specific proteins recognize specific sugars

Answer 21

through amino acid side chains in active sites of enzymes

Question 22

what is an alpha type bond

Answer 22

when the OH is below the plane

Question 23

what is a beta type bond

Answer 23

when the OH is above the plane