ABSTRACT
Another important class of molecules that are critical to an understanding of biological processes are carbohydrates, commonly known as sugars. Carbohydrates are key components of glycosides and cells, and they comprise the backbone of nucleotides, including deoxyribonucleic acid and ribonucleic acid. This chapter introduces the fundamentals of carbohydrate structure and nomenclature. The second is based on the number individual units that make up the carbohydrate. The carbon of each hydroxymethyl (CHOH) unit is a stereogenic center, so there are several diastereomers for most carbohydrates. In the case of carbohydrates, the cyclic hemiacetal is stable and does not react further to form an acyclic acetal. This change in optical rotation of a carbohydrate at the anomeric carbon when it is dissolved in a solution is the result of this reaction, and the phenomenon is called mutarotation. One explanation for the anomeric effect calls attention to the dipole moments of both heteroatoms.
