carbohydrate

Examples of carbohydrate in the following topics:

• Glucose

  • Carbohydrates are the most abundant class of organic compounds found in living organisms.
  • Carbohydrates are called saccharides or, if they are relatively small, sugars.
  • Several classifications of carbohydrates have proven useful, and are outlined in the following table.
  • Carbohydrates have been given non-systematic names, although the suffix ose is generally used.
  • The most common carbohydrate is glucose (C6H12O6).

• Formulas Using Other Configurational Notations

  • Fischer projection formulas are particularly useful for comparing configurational isomers within a family of related chiral compounds, such as the carbohydrates.

• Fischer Projection Formulas

  • As part of his Nobel Prize-winning research on carbohydrates, the great German chemist Emil Fischer, devised a simple notation that is still widely used.
  • The usefulness of this notation to Fischer, in his carbohydrate studies, is evident in the following diagram.

• Polyatomic Molecules

  • For example, carbohydrates have the same ratio (carbon: hydrogen: oxygen = 1:2:1) and thus the same empirical formula, but have different total numbers of atoms in the molecule.

• Molecules

  • Macromolecules are large molecules composed of smaller subunits; this term from biochemistry refers to nucleic acids, proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids.

• Naming Hydrates

  • Glucose, C6H12O6, was originally thought of as C6(H2O)6 and was described as a carbohydrate, but this is a very poor description of its structure given what is known about it today.

• The Structure and Configuration of Glucose

  • Emil Fischer made use of several key reactions in the course of his carbohydrate studies.
  • Mannitol is itself a common natural carbohydrate.

• Properties of Oxygen

  • All major classes of structural molecules in living organisms, such as proteins, carbohydrates, and fats, contain oxygen, as do the major inorganic compounds that comprise animal shells, teeth, and bone.

• Biosynthetic Mechanisms

  • The products of photosynthesis are a class of compounds called carbohydrates, the most common and important of which is glucose (C6H12O6).

• Historical Background

  • Thus, strongly heating organic substances such as carbohydrates and proteins yielded water, ammonia and carbonaceous solids (all inorganic), with loss of the vial essence.