BIOA01H3 Study Guide - Hydrogen Bond, Deoxyribose, Mannose
17 Dec 2010
School
Department
Course
Professor
18
BIOA01H3 Full Course Notes
Verified Note
18 documents
Document Summary
Carbohydrates are molecules containing carbon atoms flanked by hydrogen atoms and hydroxyl groups (h c oh). Some carbohydrates are relatively small, with molecular weights of less than 100. Others are true macromolecules, with molecular weights in the hundreds of thousands. There are four categories of biologically important carbohydrates, which we will discuss in turn: monosaccharide"s (mono, one ; saccharide, sugar ), such as glucose, ribose, and fructose, are simple sugars. The general formula for carbohydrates, ch2o, gives the relative proportions of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen in a monosaccharide (i. e. , the proportions of these atoms are 1:2:1). In disaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides, these proportions differ slightly from the general formula because two hydrogens and an oxygen are lost during each of the condensation reactions that form them. Most of the monosaccharides found in living systems belong to the d series of optical isomers. (recall also that only l-amino acids occur in proteins there is amazing specificity in biology!)
