> See also: > - [[Biological Macromolecules]] # Carbohydrates **Carbohydrates** are one of the four main classes of [[Biological Macromolecules]]. - *Saccharides* (aka sugars) are the *building blocks* of carbohydrates. There are three main classifications of carbohydrates based on their saccharide counts: - **Monosaccharides** (1 Sugar) - **Disaccharides** (2 Sugars) - sucrose - **Complex/Polysaccharides** (Many Sugars) - Composed of Mono-, Di-, and Poly-saccharides. - These saccharides are composed of different amounts of [[Polymers]] Aldo hexose the glycon (left) sugar deoxy the presence of less oxygen (-OH becomes -H) ribose has all hydroxyls on the right side of the fischer projection [[Nucleic Acids]] ## Monosaccharide Structure All monosaccharides are either aldoses or ketoses: - It is an **aldose** if the carbonyl group is an *aldehyde* - It is a **ketose** if the carbonyl group is a *ketone* This classification influences the type of substituents attached to the ring form of the carbohydrate **Pyranose** is a monosaccharide with a *6-membered ring* **Furanose** is a monosaccharide with a *5-membered ring* ![[Pasted image 20231017193912.png|300]] ![[Pasted image 20231017193814.png|200]] ![[Pasted image 20231017174547.png|300]] Mutarotation is the interconversion between $\alpha$ and $\beta$ forms of a carbohydrate ### Glycosidic Bonds > [[Post-Translational Modifications#Glycosylation|Protein Glycosylation]] A glycosidic bond is defined as the covalent linkage ([[Aldehydes & Ketones|acetal or ketal]]) A **reducing sugar** is a saccharide bearing an *anomeric carbon that has not formed a glycosidic bond* and can therefore reduce mild [[Oxidation and Reduction|oxidizing agents]] - This is because the free aldehyde group that is in > [!question]- Reducing vs Non-Reducing Sugars > > ![[Pasted image 20231017212628.png|400]] ## Complex Carbohydrates Polysaccharides ![[Pasted image 20231017193322.png|200]] ### Glycogen ![[Pasted image 20240108090426.png|250]]