3.

3 Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are molecules that only contains the elements carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.
“Hydrated carbon”.

The ratio is usually Cx(H2O)x.

The three main groups are monosaccharides, disaccharides and polysaccharides.

Monosaccharides:

 A single sugar unit

 Dissolve easily in water to form sweet solution
 General formula (CH2O)n when n is the number of carbons
 3 main types: trioses (3C), pentoses (5C) and hexoses (6C)

Glucose is a hexose sugar which means it is made of six carbons. It is made up of a chain of atom
long enough to close up upon itself and form a stable ring structure. The six sided structure is known
as a pyranose ring.

In molecular structure diagrams, carbons are numbered clockwise beginning with the carbon to the
right of the oxygen atom in the ring.

There are two structural variations of glucose, alpha and beta. In alpha, the hydroxide on the carbon
one is below the plane of the carbon ring. In beta the hydroxide on carbon one is above the plane
of the carbon ring. The two types are shown below.

Simplified diagrams:
 Condensation reaction:

When two alpha glucose molecules are side by side, two hydroxyl groups interact. When this happens
bonds are broken and new bond reformed in different places producing new molecules.

Above, you can see a 1,4 glycosidic covalent bond between the two alpha glucose molecules and
water produced. Glycosidic bond can be identified by C-O-C. The two hydrogen atoms and an oxygen
atom are removed from the glucose monomers and join to form a water molecules.

Bonds form between carbons 1 and 4 on the glucose molecules and the molecules are now joined.

The new molecule is maltose, which is a disaccharide (molecule made up of two monosaccharides)

To break a disaccharide the addition of water is needed. This is called hydrolysis.

Isomers: possess the same molecular formula but differ in arrangement of atoms

Alpha glucose and beta glucose are isomers of glucose.

Disaccharides:

Formed by the condensation of two monosaccharides.

 Glucose + glucose = maltose

 Glucose + fructose = sucrose
 Glucose + galactose = lactose

Polysaccharides:

Polysaccharides are not sugars but are made of glucose molecules.

Starch, glycogen and cellulose are the three main polysaccharides.

Glycogen

Function: energy store in animal cells mostly in liver and muscles.

Structure: polysaccharide of alpha-glucose with C1-C4 and C1-C6

glycosidic bonds so is branched.

How structure relates to function:

 Lots of branches allows it to be rapidly hydrolysed (due to high

surface area) + release glucose for respiration, providing energy.
 Large polysaccharide molecule means it can’t leave the cell.
 Insoluble in water meaning the water potential of cell is not affected (no osmotic effect)

Note: Though the structure of glycogen and amylopectin are highly similar, there are more branches
in glycogen and also a smaller number of glucose molecules.

Starch

Function: energy store in plant cells

Structure: Amylose and amylopectin are both

polysaccharides of alpha glucose.

 Amylose = C1-C4 glycosidic bond so is unbranched

Angle of this bond results in the long chain of
glucose forming a coiled helix shape.
 Amylopectin = C1-C4 and C1-C6 glycosidic bonds so
is branched due to 1-6 linkages. Shorter than
amylose.

How structure relates to function:

 Helical makes it compact for storage in cell

 Large polysaccharide molecule means it can’t leave the cell.
 Insoluble in water meaning the water potential of cell is not affected (no osmotic effect)
 Starch grains build up in chloroplasts or in storage organs such as potato tubers.

Cellulose

Function: provide strength and structural support to

plant cell walls.

Structure: Only beta-glucose and every other beta-

glucose molecule is inverted in a long, straight,
unbranched chain.

Many hydrogen bonds link parallel strands (crosslinks)

to form micro fibrils (strong fibres). Hydrogen bonds
are strong in high numbers.

How structure relates to function:

Provides strength and structural support to plant cells.