Make Entry -- Become an Editor -- Most Popular: (10, 25, 50, 75, 100)

   Help

Monosaccharide

Monosaccharides are single-sugar carbohydrates, the simplest kind. In appearance, they tend to be colorless and crystalline, and dissolve easily in water. Some, but not all, are sweet-tasting. Glucose, dextrose, fructose, galactose, and ribose are all monosaccharides; so is formaldehyde.

More complex sugars, like disaccharides and oligosaccharides, are made up of monosaccharide complexes. In addition, carbon atoms that support hydroxyl groups allow isomers of monosaccharides; galactose and glucose both are aldohexoses, but isomers; each has very different properties chemically and physically.

Most monosaccharides share the generic chemical formula CH2O, and the chemical structure (CHOH)_nC=O(CHOH)_mH. When n or m is zero, the monosaccharide is an aldose; when they are not zero, it is a ketose. Monosaccharides tend to form cyclic structures, especially in aqueous solution. This happens when a carbon links to the hydroxyl group of another carbon in a weak bond.

Monosaccharides are often classified by the number of carbon atoms they contain: Monose, Diose, Triose, Tetrose, Pentose, Hexose, Heptose, Octose, and Nonose are the first nine monosaccharides. They are also classified by whether they are a ketose or aldose, and what their configuration is at the carbon-2 spot.

Web Resources On Monosaccharide

Types & Characteristics of Monosaccharides
Monosaccharide Browser (3D-Java)

Book Resources On Monosaccharide

Monosaccharide Sugars: Chemical Synthesis by Chain Elongation, Degradation, and Epimerization by Gyorgydeak & Pelyvas
Carbohydrate Chemistry: Monosaccharides and Their Oligomers by Hassan Saad El Khadem

Site Maps: Most Recent | Clusters | Browse
New: Graduate Student Job Opportunity