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Carbohydrates are large macromolecules made up of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) and have the general formula Cx(H2O)y.
Carbohydrates can be classified according to the number of sugar units they contain, as follows:
The general formula for a monosaccharide is (CH2O)n. Monosaccharides are the simplest form of carbohydrate, which means they cannot be hydrolyzed or broken down into smaller carbohydrates. Monosaccharides are important molecules that complex carbohydrates are broken down into, in order to generate energy. They are also essential for building nucleic acids.
Monosaccharides can be classified in three main ways, according to:
The first two classification systems above are often combined and a monosaccharide may be called an aldohexose (e.g. glucose), an aldopentose (e.g. ribose) or a ketohexose (e.g. fructose), for example.
Apart from the first and last carbon atom, each carbon atom bearing a hydroxyl group is asymmetric and may have two possible configurations in space (R or S). A number of isomers can therefore exist for any monosaccharide.