Scribd
Upload
2 views4 pages

Biochem Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are essential nutrients that provide energy, primarily sourced from plants, and are classified into forms like cellulose and starch. They consist of sugar molecules and can be broken down into glucose for energy use in the body. Additionally, carbohydrates exhibit stereoisomerism, with enantiomers being mirror images and diastereomers differing in spatial arrangement.

Uploaded by

FAYE JASMINE BARTOLABAC
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
2 views4 pages

Biochem Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are essential nutrients that provide energy, primarily sourced from plants, and are classified into forms like cellulose and starch. They consist of sugar molecules and can be broken down into glucose for energy use in the body. Additionally, carbohydrates exhibit stereoisomerism, with enantiomers being mirror images and diastereomers differing in spatial arrangement.

Uploaded by

FAYE JASMINE BARTOLABAC
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

Carbohydrates

• One of the essential nutrients found in


food that provide energy to our bodies.
• They are made up of sugar molecules
and can be found in various forms like
bread, rice, pasta, fruits, and vegetables
• When we eat carbohydrates, our bodies
break them down into glucose, which is
used by our cells as a source of energy

Two uses of carbohydrates by the


plants
• Cellulose – carbohydrates serve as
structural elements
• Starch – provides energy reserves for
the plants
Human’s primary source of carbohydrates
is plants. The average human diet should
ideally be about two-thirds (2/3)
carbohydrate by mass

-A carbohydrate (Cn(H2O)n) is a
▪ polyhydroxy aldehyde
▪ polyhydroxy ketone
▪ compound that yields
polyhydroxy aldehydes or
polyhydroxy ketones upon
hydrolysis.
The carbohydrate glucose is a polyhydroxy
aldehyde, and the carbohydrate fructose is a
polyhydroxy ketone.
Carbohydrates classification

Molecular Structures: Carbohydrates


MIRROR IMAGES
First, an important property of many molecules, including most carbohydrates, is
"handedness," which is a form of isomerism. Molecules that possess "handedness" exist in
two forms: a “left-handed" form and a "right-handed" form. These two forms are related to
each other in the same way that a pair of hands is related to each other.
Superimposable mirror images (ACHIRAL) are images that coincide at all points when the
images are laid upon each other. Non-superimposable mirror images (CHIRAL) are images
where not all points coincide when the images are laid upon each other.
STEREOISOMERISM: Enantiomers and
Diastereomers
In the context of carbohydrates, stereoisomerism refers
to the phenomenon where two or more carbohydrates
have the same molecular formula and connectivity of
atoms but differ in their spatial arrangement

ENANTIOMERS
(a) Pairs of stereoisomers that are mirror images of each other
and cannot be superimposed onto one another.
(b) They have the same chemical and physical properties except
for their interaction with other chiral molecules

DIASTEREOMERS
(a)..Stereoisomers that are not mirror images of each other.
(b) Diastereomers arise when there is more than one chiral
center in a carbohydrate molecule, and the spatial
arrangement differs at some, but not all, of these centers.

You might also like