Monosaccharides and Disaccharides:- Organisms Contain a Variety of Hexose Derivatives
In addition to simple hexoses such as glucose, galactose, and mannose, there are a number of sugar derivatives in which a hydroxyl group in the parent compound is replaced with another substituent, or a carbon atom is oxidized to a carboxyl group (Fig. 7–9). In glucosamine, galactosamine, and mannosamine, the hydroxyl at C-2 of the parent compound is replaced with an amino group. The amino group is nearly always condensed with acetic acid, as in N-acetylglucosamine. This glucosamine derivative is part of many structural polymers, including those of the bacterial cell wall. Bacterial cell walls also contain a derivative of glucosamine, N-acetylmuramic acid, in which lactic acid (a three-carbon carboxylic acid) is ether-linked to the oxygen at C-3 of N-acetylglucosamine. The substitution of a hydrogen for the hydroxyl group at C-6 of L-galactose or L-mannose produces L-fucose or L-rhamnose, respectively; these deoxy sugars are found in plant polysaccharides and in the complex oligosaccharide components of glycoproteins and glycolipids. Oxidation of the carbonyl (aldehyde) carbon of glucose to the carboxyl level produces gluconic acid; other aldoses yield other aldonic acids. Oxidation of the car bon at the other end of the carbon chain—C-6 of glucose, galactose, or mannose—forms the corresponding uronic acid: glucuronic, galacturonic, or mannuronic acid. Both aldonic and uronic acids form stable intramolecular esters called lactones (Fig. 7–9, lower left). In addition to these acidic hexose derivatives, one nine-carbon acidic sugar deserves mention: N-acetylneuraminic acid (a sialic acid, but often referred to simply as “sialic acid”), a derivative of N-acetylmannosamine, is a component of many glycoproteins and glycolipids in animals. The carboxylic acid groups of the acidic sugar derivatives are ionized at pH=7, and the compounds are therefore correctly named as the carboxylates—glucuronate, galacturonate, and so forth.
FIGURE 7–8 Conformational formulas of pyranoses. (a) Two chair forms of the pyranose ring. Substituents on the ring carbons may be either axial (ax), projecting parallel to the vertical axis through the ring, or equatorial (eq), projecting roughly perpendicular to this axis. Two conformers such are these are not readily interconvertible without breaking the ring. However, when the molecule is “stretched” (by atomic force microscopy), an input of about 46 kJ of energy per mole of sugar can force the interconversion of chair forms. Generally, substituents in the equatorial positions are less sterically hindered by neighboring substituents, and conformers with bulky substituents in equatorial positions are favored. Another conformation, the “boat” (not shown), is seen only in derivatives with very bulky substituents. (b) A chair conformation of -D-glucopyranose.
FIGURE 7–9 Some hexose derivatives important in biology. In amino sugars, an -NH2 group replaces one of the -OH groups in the parent hexose. Substitution of -H for -OH produces a deoxy sugar; note that the deoxy sugars shown here occur in nature as the L isomers. The acidic sugars contain a carboxylate group, which confers a negative charge at neutral pH. D-Glucono-
