In: Biology
Carbohydrates are the most difficult biochemical polymeric materials to determine the exact structure. Describe the different types of isomer of carbohydrates and give examples of each type. And explain why it is difficult to identify the structure.
Carbohydrates contain multiple stereocenters, so that many isomers are possible in carbohydrates, for example enantiomers, diastereoisomers and epimers.
Those two carbohydrates are said to be enantiomers if they have nonsuperimposable mirror images of one another. For example the D and L isomers of glucose.
Those two carbohydrates are said to be diastereoisomers if their chiral carbons are connected to the same substrates but connected at different configurations. For example D-Glucose and D-Altrose.
Those two carbohydrates are said to be epimers if the two diastereomers differ only at one stereocenter. For example D-Glucose and D-Mannose.