Skip to ContentGo to accessibility page
OpenStax Logo
Organic Chemistry

25.10 Some Other Important Carbohydrates

Organic Chemistry25.10 Some Other Important Carbohydrates

25.10 Some Other Important Carbohydrates

25.10 • Some Other Important Carbohydrates

In addition to the common carbohydrates mentioned in previous sections, there are a variety of important carbohydrate-derived materials. Their structural resemblance to sugars is clear, but they aren’t simple aldoses or ketoses.

Deoxy sugars, as we saw in Section 25.7, have an oxygen atom “missing.” That is, an –OH group is replaced by an –H. The most common deoxy sugar is 2-deoxyribose, a monosaccharide found in DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid). Note that 2-deoxyribose exists in water solution as a complex equilibrium mixture of both furanose and pyranose forms.

Amino sugars, such as D-glucosamine, have an –OH group replaced by an –NH2. The N-acetyl amide derived from D-glucosamine is the monosaccharide unit from which chitin, the hard crust that protects insects and shellfish, is made. Still other amino sugars are found in antibiotics such as streptomycin and gentamicin.

PreviousNext
Order a print copy
Citation/Attribution
Reuse and redistribution of this content in digital or print format:
  • This book may not be used in the training of large language models or otherwise be ingested into large language models or generative AI offerings without OpenStax's prior written permission.
  • This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License, which means that you can reuse and modify the material only for noncommercial purposes, must attribute OpenStax, and must distribute any derivative works under the same license.
  • Any commercial printing of this textbook, including using a local or custom printer, must be approved by OpenStax, and proper citation provided.
  • OpenStax-copyrighted images, activities, assessments, and similar components of this book are subject to the same licensing – CC-BY-NC-SA. They can be used for noncommercial purposes with attribution. Commercial use requires permission.
  • Permission requests: Anyone who intends to incorporate this content (including text, images, and other components) into large language models, use it in AI offerings, use it commercially (including in print), and/or has questions about another use case is welcome to complete our reuse request form.
Attribution information
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a noncommercial print format, then you must include on every physical page the following attribution:

    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/organic-chemistry/pages/1-why-this-chapter

  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a noncommercial digital format, then for every page that includes OpenStax content, you must license the derivative work under the same CC-BY-NC-SA license as the original, and include on every digital page view the following attribution:

    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/organic-chemistry/pages/1-why-this-chapter

Citation information

The information below includes the information needed to generate citations in most major styles (APA, MLA, etc.); you must reformat and organize the information as needed to fit the requirements of the style. Use the information below to generate a citation. We recommend using a citation tool such as this one.

© Jul 1, 2026 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License. The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo, and Rice University name, and Rice University logo trademarks, or wordmarks are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.