Carbohydrate Chemistry Notes (copy)

D-glucitol

An alditol formed from the reduction of D-glucose; would it be optically active?

Alditols

Sugar alcohols formed via the reduction of monosaccharides.

Optically inactive alditols

The result of reduction of certain D-aldohexoses.

Phenylosazone

Product of the reaction of monosaccharides with phenylhydrazine.

Epimers

Stereoisomers that differ at one specific carbon atom.

Ruff Degradation

An oxidative decarboxylation process that reduces carbon chain length by one carbon.

Kiliani-Fischer Synthesis

A method for lengthening carbon chains in sugars, producing epimers.

Homopolysaccharides

Polymers consisting of a single type of monosaccharide.

Heteropolysaccharides

Polymers made up of more than one type of monosaccharide building block.

Cellulose

A structural polysaccharide found in plants, composed of β-glucose units.

Glycosamine

A sugar in which an anomeric hydrogen is replaced by nitrogen.

Ribose and 2-Deoxyribose

Sugars found in RNA and DNA, respectively.

Glycolipids and Glycoproteins

Molecules on cell surfaces important for cell recognition and blood types.

Streptomycin

An antibiotic that inhibits bacterial protein synthesis enzymes.