Structure of a disaccharide formed by glucose and fructose is given below. Identify anomeric carbon atoms in monosaccharide units.
(i) ‘a’ carbon of glucose and ‘a’ carbon of fructose.
(ii) ‘a’ carbon of glucose and ‘e’ carbon of fructose.
(iii) ‘a’ carbon of glucose and ‘b’ carbon of fructose.
(iv) ‘f’ carbon of glucose and ‘f ’ carbon of fructose.
The answer is the option (iii). The carbon present in the glucose or fructose molecule right adjacent to the oxygen atom is known as anomeric carbon. This concludes that option (iii) is the answer.
Anomers are a type of epimer that occurs in certain carbohydrate molecules, and are cyclic monosaccharides or glycosides that differ in the configuration of their anomeric carbon.
Anomers are stereoisomers that differ in the configuration of their anomeric carbon, which is the aldehyde of the sugar.