Chemical Properties of Monosaccharides
Start with the big picture
The lesson surveys the chemical behavior of monosaccharides, beginning with reducing activity and mutarotation, then examining structural and stereochemical isomerism. It outlines oxidation at different carbon positions, reduction to sugar alcohols, and dehydration under strong acidic conditions. Further topics include esterification, glycosidic bond formation, osazone formation, and alkaline interconversion of aldoses and ketoses or epimers. The scope also includes microbial fermentation, periodic acid cleavage, cyanohydrin-based chain lengthening, and the Maillard reaction. Together, these reactions show how monosaccharide functional groups and stereochemistry inform sugar identification, structural analysis, and broader biochemical processes.
What you'll learn
- Explain how a free hemiacetal group gives monosaccharides reducing properties.
- Describe mutarotation and distinguish anomers, epimers, and other forms of isomerism.
- Relate oxidation and reduction reactions to the products formed from monosaccharides.
- Identify reactions involving dehydration, esterification, glycoside formation, and osazone formation.
- Summarize selected rearrangement, cleavage, chain-lengthening, fermentation, and Maillard reactions.
Continue your study
Work through the complete notes and reinforce the topic with the study tools available in the full lesson.
