D and L Sugars
What differentiates “D-glucose” from “L-glucose” ? Or D-alanine from L-alanine? What’s this D- and L- nomenclature, anyway? For everyone in a rush, here is the
Read moreCarbohydrates
What is Mutarotation?
The term “mutarotation” originates from the observed change in the optical rotation of the alpha- and beta- anomers of glucose upon dissolution in water. Due
Read moreReducing Sugars
What’s a reducing sugar, and why is it important? Here’s a quick summary. Full details in the post below. Before We Talk About Reducing Sugars:
Read morePyranoses and Furanoses: Ring-Chain Tautomerism In Sugars
The Many Forms Of Glucose What’s the structure of glucose? A simple question! but one with many “right” answers. The first question to ask, which we covered
Read moreThe Big Damn Post Of Sugar Nomenclature
Man, is there ever a lot of sugar nomenclature to know! This post aims to collect the most commonly encountered terms in a typical second-semester
Read moreThe Haworth Projection
Let’s introduce the Haworth Projection, a frequently encountered convention for depicting sugars. “What!?” you may ask. Yet another drawing convention? At this late stage of
Read moreConverting a Fischer Projection To A Haworth (And Vice Versa)
Here’s a relatively common problem in the realm of sugar chemistry: “Convert this (sugar) from the Fischer projection to a cyclic pyranose form as a
Read moreReactions of Sugars: Glycosylation and Protection
In this post we introduce some simple reactions of sugars, especially glycosylation and protection: Formation of “glycosides” – just a different name for acetals when
Read moreThe Ruff Degradation and Kiliani-Fischer Synthesis
The Kiliani-Fischer Synthesis is a method for extending a carbohydrate chain by a single carbon. The Ruff Degradation is a method for shortening a carbohydrate
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