Chapter 3- The Chemistry of Organic Molecules Section 2- Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates

Class of organic compounds containing carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen in a 1:2:1 ratio, including monosaccharides, disaccharides, and polysaccharides.

Primary function of carbohydrates

Used as an immediate energy source in living organisms.

Monosaccharides

Simple sugars that cannot be broken down by hydrolysis; monomers of polysaccharides.

Pentoses

Five-carbon monosaccharides, such as deoxyribose in DNA and ribose in RNA.

Hexoses

Six-carbon monosaccharides, including glucose and galactose.

Glucose

A six-carbon monosaccharide used as an energy source during cellular respiration and as a monomer for structural polysaccharides.

Ribose

A pentose sugar found in RNA.

Deoxyribose

A pentose sugar found in DNA.

Disaccharides

Sugars composed of two monosaccharide units, such as maltose.

Polysaccharides

Polymers made from carbohydrate monomers, including starch and glycogen, which are polymers of glucose.

Starch

A storage polysaccharide in plants, composed of glucose molecules in a linear fashion with few side chains.

Glycogen

A storage polysaccharide in animals, composed of glucose molecules in a linear fashion with numerous branches.

Glycogen function

A carbohydrate used to store energy in the liver.

Cellulose

A polysaccharide that is the major complex carbohydrate in plant cell walls.

Chitin

A strong but flexible nitrogenous polysaccharide found in the exoskeleton of arthropods and in fungal cell walls.

Peptidoglycan

A polysaccharide containing short chains of amino acids, found in bacterial cell walls.

Chitin

The carbohydrate found in the exoskeleton of insects and crabs.

Cellulose

The carbohydrate that would NOT be used for energy storage.

Triglyceride

A polymer made up of fatty acids and glycerol.

Dehydration reaction

Also called a condensation reaction since it forms water.

Organic molecules

Molecules that contain at least carbon and hydrogen.

Cellulose

The carbohydrate found in the cell walls of plants.

Peptidoglycan

Polysaccharide that contains short chains of amino acids; found in bacterial cell walls.

A saturated fat

1. Is often solid at room temperature

2. Has fatty acids with no double bonds between the carbon atoms

3. Is of animal origin