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18 Homework Chapter: Carbohydrates

  • Page ID
    31933
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    The following problems are meant to provide an idea of the types of questions that could be asked on exams/quizzes.

    1. What is the general formula for a carbohydrate?
    2. What types of organic functional groups are found in carbohydrates?
    3. Which type of monosaccharide is found almost exclusively in nature, D or L? What does D or L signify?
    4. Draw Fischer projections of examples of each of the following structures
      • An aldopentose
      • An aldohexose that is "L"
      • A ketotetrose
    5. For each of the structures draw in the previous problem, (1) circle each of the chiral centers and (2) indicate how many stereoisomers are possible.
    6. Find the structure of the linear form of D-glucose in your text. Draw this structure, the structure of its enantiomer, and the structure of a diastereomer of this molecule.
    7. Fischer projections for all of the monosaccharides from C3 to C6 are shown in your textbook. Use these to:
      • Draw the alpha-furanose (5-membered ring) form of any aldopentose and any aldohexose.
      • Draw the beta-pyranose (6-membered ring) form of any aldohexose and any ketohexose.
      • Show the product of mutarotation of these structures.
    8. What is the relationship between D-gluclose and L-glucose?
    9. What is the relationship between D-gluclose and D-galactose?
    10. What is the relationship between D-gluclose and D-mannose?
    11. What is the relationship between D-gluclose and D-ribose?
    12. What is the relationship between D-gluclose and D-fructose?
    13. Draw each of the following disaccharides.
      • alpha(1,4) D-galactose D-glucose
      • beta(1,4) D-glucose D-glucose
      • alpha(1,6) D-glucose D-glucose
      • alpha,beta(1,2) D-glucose D-fructose
    14. What is a branch point?
    15. Which contains more branching, amylopectin (plant starch) or glycogen (animal "starch")?
    16. How does cellulose differ from amylose (non-branched plant starch)?
    17. Why can't humans metabolize cellulose?

    Contributors

    Clarke Earley (Department of Chemistry, Kent State University Stark Campus)


    18 Homework Chapter: Carbohydrates is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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