What are the differences between D-glucose and L-glucose?

Question

Please tell me as many as you know. Thank you so much. May God bless you.

Answer 1

there are stereoisomers that exist as non-superimposable , MIRROR images .That means they can only be superimposed through mirroe reflection.They are called enantiomers. They have identicak chemical and physical proepries EXCEPT in conditions that are handed or chiral ( such as the plane polarized light of which Paul spoke ). Enzymes are themselves chiral or handed  so they can distinguish right ( D (+ )glucose ) from its lefthanded enantionmer ( L(-) glucose ). In this case the D and L are bease on a relationship with a stereoisomer of glyceraldehyde has the OH of the handed carbon on the right.

D ( big D ) sugars do not all rotate plane polarized light to the right ( + )  . Fructose , for example has a D relative assignment  but rotates plane polarized light to the left..   The + and - have been related to little d ( dextrorotatory) and little l ( levorotatory )  the big D and big L connotaion is very confusing as I have just shown that it is NOT directly related to the direction of plane polarized light as the + and - assignents are .

Answer 2

Please visit this link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucose

Answer 3

The molecules are mirror images. D-glucose is what occurs in biology. L-glucose has the wrong shape to interact with the enzymes that process D-glucose, just like left-hand nuts not being able to fit onto right-hand threads.

All the other differences follow from this.  The physical and chemical properties are identical, except that those involving a difference between left and right are in opposite directions (e.g. rotating the plane of polarised light).

Your gratitude is reward enough, without invoking supernatural intervention in which, as it happens, I do not believe.

Answer 4

Hi. They are different isomers.

This means that the same carbon and hydrogen atoms are joined tohgether in the same order if you flattened it out into 2 dimensions but in three dimensions it forms a different structure

Answer 5

Glucose is a 6 carbon sugar.  When you draw glucose in a straight line, each carbon has an H on one side and an OH on the other.  On carbon #5, if the OH is on the right, it is a D-glucose (D=right) and if the OH is on the left it is a L-glucose (L=left).  There are similarities and differences between these two forms of glucose, some of them easy and some very complicated.  (Merlin's Feline's explanation above has some good information but it is very difficult to understand unless you already know all about it and the vocabulary he uses.  In that case, you wouldn't be asking about it.)  Go to the web site recommended above to get more specifics that are presented in a manner that is easier to understand and to pick out the exact information you need:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucose