Carbohydrates Overview

These flashcards cover the essential vocabulary and concepts related to carbohydrates as discussed in the lecture.

Carbohydrates

Polyhydroxy aldehydes or ketones composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.

Monosaccharides

The basic structural units of carbohydrates, acting as simple sugars that are the building blocks for larger carbohydrates.

Oligosaccharides

Short chains of monosaccharides, typically containing 2 to 10 units.

Polysaccharides

Long chains of monosaccharides (more than 10 units), including starch, cellulose, and glycogen.

Aldose

A monosaccharide containing an aldehyde group typically located at the first carbon.

Ketose

A monosaccharide containing a ketone group, usually found at carbon 2.

Chirality

A property of a molecule that has a non-superimposable mirror image, often due to a carbon atom attached to four different groups.

Isomerism

The phenomenon where two or more compounds have the same molecular formula but different structures or arrangements.

Enantiomers

A type of isomerism where molecules are mirror images of each other.

Diastereomers

Isomers that are not mirror images of each other and differ at one or more chiral centers.

Epimers

Diastereomers that differ in configuration at only one chiral carbon.

Cyclic Structure

The form of monosaccharides that occurs when they are in solution, resulting from the reaction of the carbonyl group with a hydroxyl group.

Haworth Projection

A cyclic representation of sugars that shows the configuration of substituents around the ring.

Fischer Projection

A linear representation of sugars that indicates the configuration of each carbon atom.

Glycosidic Bond

A type of bond that connects sugars together, formed between an anomeric hydroxyl group and another hydroxyl group.

Redox Reaction

A chemical reaction involving the transfer of electrons, including oxidation and reduction processes.

Hyperglycemia

A condition characterized by abnormally high levels of glucose in the blood.