Arabinose
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Arabinose is an aldopentose — a monosaccharide containing five carbon atoms, and including an aldehyde (CHO) functional group. It has chemical formula C5H10O5 and a molar mass of 150.14 g/mol. L-arabinose has the same configuration at its penultimate carbon atom as L-(-)-glyceraldehyde. Natural monosaccharides are often dextrorotary and are chemically reducible to D-(+)-glyceraldehyde. However, L-arabinose is found in nature as a component of biopolymers such as hemicellulose and pectin and can be metabolised by microorganisms as a carbon source. As such, L-arabinose is in fact more common than D-arabinose in nature.
A classic method for the organic synthesis of arabinose from glucose is the Wohl degradation.
