Chem 40 Flashcards
Carbohydrates
- Hydrates of carbon
- Main function is to provide
energy - most abundant biomolecules on Earth
________ converts more than 100 billion metric tons of CO2 and
H2O into cellulose and other plant products
Photosynthesis
a multistep process that forms carbon
dioxide, water, and a great deal of energy
oxidation of glucose
Functions of Carbohydrates
- Storehouse of chemical energy.
- Supportive structural components of plants and some animals.
- Essential components of the genetic material
- Ligands and receptors in cellular communication
Classes of Carbohydrates
- monosaccharides
- oligosacchraides
- Polysaccharides
Monosaccharides
simple sugars, consist of a single polyhydroxy aldehyde or ketone unit. The most abundant monosaccharide in nature is the six-carbon sugar D-glucose
Oligosaccharides
- consist of short chains of monosaccharide units joined by characteristic linkages called glycosidic bonds
- Disaccharides
Polysaccharides
- sugar polymers containing more than 20 or so monosaccharide units, and some have hundreds or thousands of units
- Example: Cellulose
have three to seven carbon atoms in a chain, with a carbonyl group at either the terminal carbon (C1) or the carbon adjacent to it (C2).
monosaccharides
Monosaccharides are usually drawn _______ , with the carbonyl group at
the _____
vertically; top
polar compounds with high melting points
monosaccharides
What makes monosaccharides water soluble?
presence of so many polar functional groups capable of hydrogen
bonding
Two families of monosaccharides
aldoses
ketoses
[aldose or ketose] If the carbonyl group is at an end of the carbon chain of the monosaccharide
aldose
[aldose or ketose] if the carbonyl group is at any other position of the
monosaccharide
ketose
