Carbohydrates are a key source of energy for living things. Starting with the simplest sugars, describe how ca

Question

Carbohydrates are a key source of energy for living things. Starting with the simplest sugars, describe how carbohydrates become more complex.

Answer 1

Dehydration synthesis: is an anabolic process by which two molecules are chemically bonded through the use of enzymes and a loss of water.

glucose + glucose + enzyme = maltose + water + enzyme.



Carbohydrates: include sugars and their polymers. They include monosaccharides disaccharides, and polysaccharides. The monosaccharide is a monomer, the disaccharide is a polymer,and the polysaccharides are macromolecules.



Monosaccharides: The basic formula (CH2O)

Examples: triose sugars, 3 carbons, glyceraldehyde and dihydroxyacetone; pentose sugars. 5 carbons. ribose, deoxyribose, and ribulose; hexose sugars, 6 carbons, glucose, galactose, and fructose.



Disaccharides: These are double sugars with the formula C12H22O11. Notice that one molecule of water is missing from the formula. The covalent bond holding the two monomers together is called a 1-4 or 1-2 glycoside linkage. Examples: sucrose = glucose + fructose. maltose = glucose + glucose, and lactose = glucose + galactose.



Polysaccharides: The basic formula is ( C6H10O5)n . These are macromolecules capable of acting as structural or storage molecules.



Storage Polysaccharides: Starch is a plant storage polysaccharide that is composed entirely of glucose joined by @1-4 glycoside linkages. amylose is the simplest form of starch. amylopectin is more complex and is branched. Glycogen is an animal starch stored in the liver and muscles of vertebrates. It is more highly branched than amylopectin.



Structural Polysaccharides: Cellulose and chitin are examples of structural polysaccharides.

Cellulose is the most abundant organic compound on earth. It is made of glucose, like starch, but they differ in the type of 1-4 linkage. Instead of an @ linkage as in starch cellulose contains a B 1-4 linkage.

This causes the polysaccharide to take on a step arrangement and not a linear one like in starch.

Enzymes find it difficult to brake the B 1-4 linkage.