Aldoses
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An aldose is a monosaccharide (a simple sugar) that contains only one aldehyde (-CH=O) group per molecule. The chemical formula takes the form Cn(H2O)n. The simplest possible aldose is the diose glycolaldehyde, which only contains two carbon atoms.[1]
Because they have at least one asymmetric carbon center, aldoses with three or more carbon atoms exhibit stereoisomerism. This means an aldose can exist in either a D form or L form of a Fischer projection. Biological systems tend to recognize D-aldoses more than L-aldoses.
An aldose differs from a ketose in that it has a carbonyl group at the end of the carbon chain instead of in the middle. This allows ketoses and aldoses to be chemically differentiated through Seliwanoff's test.[2] An aldose may isomerize to a ketose through the Lobry-de Bruyn-van Ekenstein transformation.[3]
List of aldoses []
- Diose: glycolaldehyde
- Triose: glyceraldehyde
- Tetroses: erythrose, threose
- Pentoses: ribose, arabinose, xylose, lyxose
- Hexoses: allose, altrose, glucose, mannose, gulose, idose, galactose, talose
References []
- ^ Berg, J.M. (2006). Biochemistry (6th ed.). New York: W.H. Freeman and Company.
- ^ "Seliwanoff's Test". Harper College. Retrieved 2011-07-10.
- ^ "Lobry de Bruyn-van Ekenstein Transformation". Drug Future. Retrieved 2011-07-10.
