carbohydrates Flashcards
(47 cards)
functions of carbohydrates
energy store
- starch in plants
- glycogen in animals
structural
- cellulose in plants
- chitin in insects
cell recognition
- cell surfaces carbohydrates
metabolism
- metabolic intermediates
- energy substrates
sizes of carbohydrates
monosaccharides
- single sugars
- basic units of carbohydrates
oligosaccharides
- 2-10 residues
- name changes depending on how many eg di or try
polysaccharides
- more than 20 residues
- macromolecules with long chains
- made of one or many monosaccharides
monosaccharides
simplist carbohydrates - building blocks
cannot be easily broken down
classifying according to:
- number of carbon atoms in structure
- whether they have an aldehyde (aldose) or ketone (ketose)
structure of a monosaccharide
aldoses
all have aldehyde group on first carbon -CHO
CH2OH on lowest carbon
in same group have same general formula with different arrangements of OH groups
glucose, mannose and galactose
structure of glucose
structure of mannose
structure of galactose
ketoses
all have ketone group on second carbon C=O
CH2OH on first and last carbon
within group have same general formula with different arrangement of OH groups
names end in -ulose
eg fructose
structure of fructose
what is an epimer?
different compounds with the same molecular formula that differ by configuration at only one carbon
important as biological system can differentiate between them
eg glucose and galactose
have same atoms joined to same atoms
except configuration at carbon 4
= c4 epimer of glucose
hemiactal
where intramolecular (within some molecule) monosaccharides react with themselves
hydroxyl OH reacts with a carbonyl C=O
internal hemiactal
occurs in monosaccharides with 5 or more carbons
results in a ring structure
forms a new chiral (asymmetric) carbon
carbon atom bound with 4 different groups bonded to it
special as bonded to 2 oxygen atoms
called anomeric carbon
common monosaccharides
glucose
fructose
ribose
galactose
glucose
aldose (aldahexose)
monomer to create cellulose
central to cell metabolism
found in monosaccharide form in plants, fruit and blood
structure
fructose
ketose (ketohexose)
monomer to create sucrose
found in leaves, fruit and honey
anomeric carbon of ketone is c2 not c1
structure
ribose
aldapentose
component of ribonucleic acid
reduced form (deoxyribose) used in DNA
structure
galactose
component of lactose
makes galactans - structural cell wall polysaccharide in plants
component of antigens on blood cells that create blood groups
how are monosaccharides joined?
hydroxyl OH on carbon 1 reacts with the hydroxyl on carbon 4 of another molecule
2 hydrogens and an oxygen released in a condensation reaction = water
covalent bond forms between oxygen on anomeric carbon and carbon 4 of another
= glycosidic bond
what is a disaccharide?
two monosaccharides joined by a glycosidic bond
alpha or beta depending on arrangement of OH on anomeric carbon
eg maltose, lactose and sucrose
maltose
2 glucose molecules
formed during breakdown of starch
alpha 1,4 bond
structure
lactose
galactose and glucose joined by beta 1,4 bond
beta bond harder to degrade than alpha = harder to breakdown
structure
sucrose
fructose and glucose joined
both anomeric carbon of fructose and glucose involved
glycosidic bond described differently depending on which molecule you start with
if start with glucose = alpha 1,2
if start with fructose = beta 2,1
structure
reducing sugars
a sugar that can be oxidised and therefore acts as a reducing agent
if only one anomeric carbon involved in bond, free anomeric is not trapped in ring structure
free to reform a straight chain
means carbonyl carbon on straight chain is free to be oxidised
if oxidised then acts as a reducing agent and reduces other molecules
eg maltose