Monosaccharide Stereochemistry

These flashcards cover key vocabulary and concepts related to monosaccharide stereochemistry.

Monosaccharides

The building blocks of carbohydrates that can be linked together to form larger carbohydrates.

Enantiomers

Molecules that are non-superimposable mirror images of each other.

Chiral Carbon

A carbon atom that is bonded to four different atoms or groups of atoms.

Glyceraldehyde

The simplest aldose monosaccharide containing three carbon atoms.

Dihydroxyacetone

The simplest ketose monosaccharide, which contains three carbon atoms and no chiral carbons.

Fischer Projections

A way to draw monosaccharide enantiomers to represent their configuration accurately.

D and L configurations

Designations for monosaccharides based on the orientation of the hydroxy group around the chiral carbon farthest from the carbonyl group.

Diastereomers

Molecules that are non-superimposable, contain chiral carbons, but are not mirror images of each other.

Aldo-tetroses

Monosaccharides that are aldehydes with four carbon atoms.

2 to the N formula

A formula used to calculate the number of stereoisomers based on the number of chiral carbons (N) in a molecule.

D-aldose family tree

A hierarchical representation of D-aldoses based on increasing number of carbon atoms and chiral centers.