ABSTRACT
The name carbohydrate is suggestive: it stands for the stoichiometry Cn(R20)n' it indicates biosynthesis from water and a carbon source, namely carbon dioxide, and it suggests that there is nothing more closely related to water in nature than carbohydrates. The suggestions are borne out by reality. The equatorial OR groups of glucose, for example, fit perfectly into the tetrahedral water clusters of fluid or crystalline water, glycosylation helps to carries water-insoluble compounds into the blood stream, and the carbohydrates of glycoproteins on the surface of cells function as the letter boxes for messages from solutes in biological water volumes. For organic chemists two major motivations for working with carbohydrates prevail:
1. Adjust polymer technology to cellulose. The most important property of cellulose is quantity. About 1011 tons (an orgy of mass) are produced on earth every year by photosynthesis. This compares to about 3 x 109 tons of mineral oil products, more than 85% of which is burned. The remaining 15% is mostly converted to polymers. There is no reason, except for price, that cellulose and fat chemistry cannot be applied to produce both fluid energy sources and polymers.
