Monosaccharide structure 4. Draw two epimers (one at carbon-3 and another at Aldohexose: The Structural Characteristics of Monosaccharides

The Structural Characteristics of Monosaccharides

Monosaccharides, or simple sugars, are an important class of organic compounds found in nature. They are the simplest form of carbohydrates and consist of one molecule, with a general formula of Cn(H2O)n. Monosaccharides are classified based on the number of carbon atoms they contain (Miller, 2016). The most common monosaccharides are glucose, fructose, and galactose. All three of these monosaccharides are composed of six carbon atoms and can exist in either a linear or a cyclic form (Zhang et al., 2017). The linear form of a monosaccharide is a straight chain of carbon atoms, with hydroxyl (-OH) groups attached to each carbon atom. The cyclic form of a monosaccharide is a ring structure, with each carbon atom connected to two other carbon atoms. The ring structure is stabilized by intramolecular hydrogen bonds between the hydroxyl groups (Lambert et al., 2020). Monosaccharides can be further divided into two classes: aldoses and ketoses. Aldoses contain an aldehyde group (CHO) at the end of the chain, while ketoses contain a ketone group (CO) at the end of the chain (Chen et al., 2021). Cont….