Carbohydrates Flashcards
How are carbohydrates produced?
Produced from CO2 and H2O via photosynthesis in plants
What do carbohydrate functions include?
- energy source and energy storage
- structural component of cell walls and exoskeletons
- informational molecules in cell-cell signaling – The “Sugar Code”
Carbohydrates covalently linked to proteins form what?
glycoproteins and proteoglycans
Carbohydrates covalently linked to lipids to form what?
Glycolipids
What are the chemical classifications of carbohydrates?
Poly-hydroxyl aldehydes or ketones
Name the 4 classes of carbohydrates.
1) Monosaccharides
2) Disaccharides
3) Oligosaccharides
4) Polysaccharides
How many monosaccharides are contained in oligosaccharides? What are they linked onto?
- 3-10 monosaccharides
- linked onto lipids & proteins
How many monosaccharides are contained in polysaccharides? Name examples.
- > 10 monosaccharides
- Cellulose and amylose
- Can be 1000s or millions of monosaccharides
What is the empirical formula of monosaccharides? What can n be?
(CH2O)n
Equal and greater than 3
Equal and lower than 7
What is the Glycome?
- One of the most complex “omics” (because there’s no template for it, organisms can do whatever they want, change with the environment)
- Describes total sugars produced in a cell or an organism
What is an aldehyde? How is it formed?
organic compound containing the group —CHO, formed by the oxidation of alcohols
What is a ketone? How is it formed?
organic compound containing a carbonyl group =C=O bonded to two hydrocarbon groups, made by oxidizing secondary alcohols
Polymers of monosaccharides are linked by what bonds?
O glycosidic bond by a condensation reaction
Based on the empirical formula, what are the names when n=3 to n=7?
N= 3 Triose N=4 Tetrose N=5 Pentose N=6 Hexose N=7 Heptose
The names from the empirical formula can exist in what forms? What are the prefixes?
Aldehydes or ketones
- Aldo-
- Keto-
ex: aldotriose, ketotriose
How many chiral centers does glyceraldehyde have? How many configurations? How many isomeric forms? How many mirror images?
- One Chiral Center
- 2 different Configurations
- 2 Isomeric forms
- 2 mirror images
What are two mirror image isomers referred to?
Enantiomers
What are enantiomers?
is one of two stereoisomers that are mirror images of each other that are non-superposable
What is the difference in diastereoisomers?
more than one chiral carbon and more than one stereoisomer
How many Chiral carbons in ketotriose or dihydroxyacetone?
None (0)
What is the right configuration? Left?
Right = Detro (D) Left = Levo (L)
What defines the configuration in glyceraldehyde? What should you ALWAYS draw on the top?
Position of hydroxyl
Aldehyde/Ketone
What are the two formulas to represent isomers?
- Fisher Projection
- Perspective Formulas
How do you determine the D/L configuration of aldehydes?
1) Aldehyde on the top
2) Hydroxyl on the right = D
3) Hydroxyl on the left = L
Is the D/L configuration the same as the R/S?
NOT the same
R/S = priority of atomic number across the chiral carbon
What is the number of stereoisomers in a monosaccharides is equal to?
2^n
where n = number of chiral carbons
Define epimers. How do you name them?
- two monosaccharides that have the same absolute configuration but differ only in the configuration around ONE carbon atom
- Ex: epimer at C-2, epimer at C-4
How do you determine the number of epimers for an absolute configuration?
Count the amount of chiral carbons and subtract ONE
In what configuration do monosaccharides tend to be in solution?
Closed configuration
How does a monosaccharide go from the open to closed configuration?
hydroxyl group of carbon 5 doing a nucleophilic attack on carbon 1 from that same molecule, forms a hydroxyl and you’ve successfully closed this ring
According to the Haworth projection, what does the hydroxyl group on carbon one pointing up mean? Down? Which structure is most stable?
Up: beta
Down: alpha
- Beta is more stable since you don’t have repulsion from the other OH group