Carbohydrates Flashcards
monosaccharides
1 sugar unit
disaccharides
2 sugar units covalently linked
oligosaccharides
several sugar units
- most important are the ones attached to proteins or lipids outside of the cell
- important in cell- cell interactions in the nervous system
- brain
- coat blood cells and determine blood group
polysaccharides
long chains of 100s-1000s
- linked by glycosidic bonds
- a(1-4) or B(1-4)
- can be straight or branches
What are carbs involved in?
- Energy transport and storage (glycogen)
* glucose gets broken down to release energy - Structural
* bacterial cell walls, cellulose and peptidoglycan - Information
* signals on proteins and membranes
* blood group antigens- when transfusing you have to be careful because if they have type A you cant give type B or type AB because carbos on the surface of red blood cells wont match, causes immune response which isnt favourbale
What are the 2 major carb families?
- Aldoses- carbonyl is always on c1
* derive from D- glyceraldehyde - Ketoses- carbonyl is always on C2
* derive from dihydroxyacetone
BOTH have asymmetric chiral carbons
EXCEPT FOR dihydroxyacetone
glucose
Glc
glucosamine
GlcN
amino sugar
- sugar derivative
Fructose
Fru
Galactose
Gal
Galactosamine
GalN
- amino sugar
- sugar derivative
N-Acetylglucosamine
GlcNac
- sugar amide
- sugar derivative
Ribose
Rib
- deoxy- sugar
- sugar derivative
Why do ketohexoses have 1 less chiral centre
because of symmetry carbonyl group will go down into molecule will change overall structure because of position
How are most sugars found?
As D and most amino acids are in L
How do you identify if a molecule is D?
Look at the chiral carbon furthest from the carbonyl and if it has OH on the right its D
What are enantiomers?
non super imposable mirror images
- one is D and one is L
- if you were to mirror each of the groups are aligned but if you put them on top of each other the groups wouldn’t match
What are diastereomers?
non mirror image stereoisomers
Epimers
diastereomers that differ in position of only one carbon
What is the epimeric carbon?
the carbon that differs between molecules
How do carbs exist in solution?
cyclic form
- carbonyl groups react with alchols