Carbohydrates Flashcards
What is the difference between an aldose and a ketose?
Aldose: Carbonyl group on C1
Ketose: Carbonyl group in internal carbon (usually C2)
What is an X-ose? (x = tri, tetr, pent, hex)
An aldehyde or a ketose with a certain number of carbons
How many stereoisomers do aldohexose and ketohexose have, and what does that mean for the number of chiral centres?
Aldohexose: 4 chiral centers, 16 stereoisomers
Ketohexose: 3 chiral centres, 8 stereoisomers
What is the difference between D- and L- glyceraldehyde?
D: OH on carbon 2 is on the right
L: OH on carbon 2 is on the left
What is the difference between enantiomers, diastereomers, and epimers?
Enantiomer: pair of nonsuperimposable mirror images
Diastereomer: pair non-mirror image stereoisomers
Epimer: diastereomers that are identical minus configuration at one chiral C
What is the difference between a hemiacetal and a hemiketal?
Hemiacetal: aldehyde + alcohol
Hemiketal: ketone + alcohol
How is glycopyranose formed?
C1 binds with OH of C5 to form a 6 membered ring
What are anomers?
Isomers that differ only at hemiacetal or hemiketal C in glucopyranose.
How is the alpha and beta glucopyranose anomers different?
Alpha: OH on C1 is on opposite sides of C6
Beta: OH on C1 is on the same side of C6
What is mutarotation?
Interconversion between alpha and beta anomers in glucopyranose, measured by the rotation of plane polarized light.
What is the difference in mutorotation of alpha and B glucose?
alpha: rotates light +112º
beta: rotates light +19º
Why is beta glucose more abundant than alpha glucose?
Beta-D-Glc can put bulky substituents in the equatorial position in its chair conformation.
What is glucitol?
Sugar derivative formed from the reduction (H gain) of the aldehyde on glucose to glycerol. (CH=O becomes CH2(OH))
How are monosaccharides reducing agents?
Linear aldoses give up the H (oxidation) on their aldehyde group to form a carboxyl group.
What are sugar phosphate esters?
Intermediates in sugar synthesis that prevent transport of sugar across membranes by adding phosphates in place of OH to “disguise” sugars.