Carbohydrate chemistry is a subdiscipline of
chemistry
Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...
primarily concerned with the detection, synthesis, structure, and function of
carbohydrate
In organic chemistry, a carbohydrate () is a biomolecule consisting of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms, usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 (as in water) and thus with the empirical formula (where ''m'' may or ma ...
s.
Due to the general structure of carbohydrates, their synthesis is often preoccupied with the selective formation of glycosidic linkages and the selective reaction of hydroxyl groups; as a result, it relies heavily on the use of
protecting groups
A protecting group or protective group is introduced into a molecule by chemical modification of a functional group to obtain chemoselectivity in a subsequent chemical reaction. It plays an important role in multistep organic synthesis.
In man ...
.
Monosaccharides
Individual saccharide residues are termed monosaccharides.
Carbohydrate synthesis
Carbohydrate synthesis is a sub-field of
organic chemistry
Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain carbon atoms.Clayden, J.; ...
concerned specifically with the generation of natural and unnatural
carbohydrate
In organic chemistry, a carbohydrate () is a biomolecule consisting of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms, usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 (as in water) and thus with the empirical formula (where ''m'' may or ma ...
structures. This can include the synthesis of
monosaccharide
Monosaccharides (from Greek ''monos'': single, '' sacchar'': sugar), also called simple sugars, are the simplest forms of sugar and the most basic units (monomers) from which all carbohydrates are built.
They are usually colorless, water-solub ...
residues or structures containing more than one monosaccharide, known as
oligosaccharides
An oligosaccharide (/ˌɑlɪgoʊˈsækəˌɹaɪd/; from the Greek ὀλίγος ''olígos'', "a few", and σάκχαρ ''sácchar'', "sugar") is a saccharide polymer containing a small number (typically two to ten) of monosaccharides (simple sugar ...
.
Glycosidic bond formation
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Chemical glycosylation
A chemical glycosylation reaction involves the coupling of a glycosyl donor, to a glycosyl acceptor forming a glycoside. If both the donor and acceptor are sugars, then the product is an oligosaccharide. The reaction requires activation with a ...
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Fischer glycosidation Fischer glycosidation (or Fischer glycosylation) refers to the formation of a glycoside by the reaction of an aldose or ketose with an alcohol in the presence of an acid catalyst. The reaction is named after the German chemist, Emil Fischer, winner ...
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Glycosyl halide
A glycosyl group is a univalent free radical or substituent structure obtained by removing the hemiacetal hydroxyl group from the cyclic form of a monosaccharide and, by extension, of a lower oligosaccharide.
Glycosyl also reacts with inorganic ...
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Koenigs-Knorr reaction
Protecting groups
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Carbohydrate acetalisation In carbohydrate chemistry carbohydrate acetalisation is an organic reaction and a very effective means of providing a protecting group. The example below depicts the acetalisation reaction of D-ribose 1. With acetone or 2,2-dimethoxypropane as the ...
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Trimethylsilyl
A trimethylsilyl group (abbreviated TMS) is a functional group in organic chemistry. This group consists of three methyl groups bonded to a silicon atom minus;Si(CH3)3 which is in turn bonded to the rest of a molecule. This structural group is ch ...
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Benzyl
In organic chemistry, benzyl is the substituent or molecular fragment possessing the structure . Benzyl features a benzene ring () attached to a methylene group () group.
Nomenclature
In IUPAC nomenclature, the prefix benzyl refers to a substi ...
Ether
* para-methoxybenzyl ether
Oligosaccharides
Reactions of carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are reactants in many
organic reaction
Organic reactions are chemical reactions involving organic compounds. The basic organic chemistry reaction types are addition reactions, elimination reactions, substitution reactions, pericyclic reactions, rearrangement reactions, Mechanistic Organ ...
s. For example:
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Cyanohydrin reaction
A cyanohydrin reaction is an organic chemical reaction in which an aldehyde or ketone reacts with a cyanide anion or a nitrile to form a cyanohydrin. This nucleophilic addition is a reversible reaction but with aliphatic carbonyl compounds eq ...
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Lobry-de Bruyn-van Ekenstein transformation
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Amadori rearrangement The Amadori rearrangement is an organic reaction describing the acid or base catalyzed isomerization or rearrangement reaction of the ''N''-glycoside of an aldose or the glycosylamine to the corresponding 1-amino-1-deoxy-ketose. The reaction is i ...
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Nef reaction
In organic chemistry, the Nef reaction is an organic reaction describing the acid hydrolysis of a salt of a primary or secondary nitroalkane () to an aldehyde () or a ketone () and nitrous oxide (). The reaction has been the subject of sever ...
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Wohl degradation
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Tipson-Cohen reaction
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Ferrier rearrangement
The Ferrier rearrangement is an organic reaction that involves a nucleophilic substitution reaction combined with an allylic shift in a glycal (a 2,3- unsaturated glycoside). It was discovered by the carbohydrate chemist Robert J. Ferrier.
M ...
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Ferrier II reaction
The Ferrier carbocyclization (or Ferrier II reaction) is an organic reaction that was first reported by the carbohydrate chemist Robert J. Ferrier in 1979. It is a metal-mediated rearrangement of enol ether pyrans to cyclohexanones. Typically, ...
Functions of carbohydrates
Carbohydrates have four major functions within the body:
# Energy supply, particularly for the brain in the form of
glucose
Glucose is a simple sugar with the molecular formula . Glucose is overall the most abundant monosaccharide, a subcategory of carbohydrates. Glucose is mainly made by plants and most algae during photosynthesis from water and carbon dioxide, using ...
# Avoiding the
breakdown of amino acids for energy
# Avoiding
ketosis from the breakdown of fatty acids
# Cellular and protein recognition
Energy supply, particularly for the brain in the form of glucose
Avoiding the breakdown of amino acids for energy
Avoiding ketosis from the breakdown of fatty acids
Cellular and protein recognition
Glycoprotein
hormone
A hormone (from the Greek participle , "setting in motion") is a class of signaling molecules in multicellular organisms that are sent to distant organs by complex biological processes to regulate physiology and behavior. Hormones are required ...
s may be removed by the liver from the bloodstream when the passage of time causes the breaking-off of carbohydrates from the glycoproteins.
See also
Carbohydrate structure
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Anomeric effect
In organic chemistry, the anomeric effect or Edward-Lemieux effect is a stereoelectronic effect that describes the tendency of heteroatomic substituents adjacent to a heteroatom within a cyclohexane ring to prefer the ''axial'' orientation instea ...
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Carbohydrate
In organic chemistry, a carbohydrate () is a biomolecule consisting of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms, usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 (as in water) and thus with the empirical formula (where ''m'' may or ma ...
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Carbohydrate conformation
Carbohydrate conformation refers to the overall three-dimensional structure adopted by a carbohydrate (saccharide) molecule as a result of the through-bond and through-space physical forces it experiences arising from its molecular structure. The p ...
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Disaccharide
A disaccharide (also called a double sugar or ''biose'') is the sugar formed when two monosaccharides are joined by glycosidic linkage. Like monosaccharides, disaccharides are simple sugars soluble in water. Three common examples are sucrose, lact ...
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Glycosidic bond
A glycosidic bond or glycosidic linkage is a type of covalent bond that joins a carbohydrate (sugar) molecule to another group, which may or may not be another carbohydrate.
A glycosidic bond is formed between the hemiacetal or hemiketal group ...
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Monosaccharide
Monosaccharides (from Greek ''monos'': single, '' sacchar'': sugar), also called simple sugars, are the simplest forms of sugar and the most basic units (monomers) from which all carbohydrates are built.
They are usually colorless, water-solub ...
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Polysaccharide
Polysaccharides (), or polycarbohydrates, are the most abundant carbohydrates found in food. They are long chain polymeric carbohydrates composed of monosaccharide units bound together by glycosidic linkages. This carbohydrate can react with wa ...
Carbohydrate function and biology
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Glycobiology
Defined in the narrowest sense, glycobiology is the study of the structure, biosynthesis, and biology of saccharides (sugar chains or glycans) that are widely distributed in nature. Sugars or saccharides are essential components of all living thing ...
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Glycomics Glycomics is the comprehensive study of glycomes (the entire complement of sugars, whether free or present in more complex molecules of an organism), including genetic, physiologic, pathologic, and other aspects. Glycomics "is the systematic study ...
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Glycosylation
Glycosylation is the reaction in which a carbohydrate (or ' glycan'), i.e. a glycosyl donor, is attached to a hydroxyl or other functional group of another molecule (a glycosyl acceptor) in order to form a glycoconjugate. In biology (but not al ...
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Organic synthesis
Organic synthesis is a special branch of chemical synthesis and is concerned with the intentional construction of organic compounds. Organic molecules are often more complex than inorganic compounds, and their synthesis has developed into one o ...
References
External links
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Functions of Carbohydrates
{{Branches of chemistry
Carbohydrates
Chemical synthesis