Monosaccharide Browser

Author: Jon Maber

The monosaccharide browser allows you to view space filling Fischer projections of monosaccharides. You can edit the structure and discover the correct name or you can select names from the classified index to discover the structure. The structure can be edited by choosing between aldose/ketose, number of carbon atoms between 3 and 6 and by clicking on carbon atoms to alter chirality.

Technical Information

The Monosaccharide Browser is implemented as a Java applet. I've tested it with Netscape 4.5 and Internet Explorer 5.0 but it should work with other Java enabled browsers. If you don't see a picture of glucose at the top of this page your browser may not be Java enabled.

Study Aid

The Monosaccharide Browser can be used as a study aid in various ways.

Make a random monosaccharide by clicking on the controls with the mouse but cover the name with your hand - practice naming the sugar before you reveal the correct name.
Pick the name of a monosacharide and build it by selecting the correct type of sugar and by clicking on the chiral carbon atoms.
Pick two monosaccharides from a metabolic pathway, select the name of the first sugar and then work out which structural changes you need to make to convert it into the second sugar. (E.g. D-Glucose to D-Galactose, D-Glucose to D-Fructose etc.)
Look at the cyclic structures of monosaccharides in your text book and use the Monosaccharide browser to build the straight chain form.

These activities could be more effective with a study partner.

Space Filling Fisher Projections

A conventional Fischer projection is a flat stick drawing of the molecule which preserves information about chirality. The bonds of the carbon skeleton are shown vertical and other bonds are horizontal. The three dimensional structure can be reconstructed in the mind by imagining the vertical bonds bending back (into the page) and the horizontal bonds bending forward (out of the page).

The images in the browser are Space Filling Fischer projections. The atoms are represented as spheres but the molecule has been flattened out as for a stick type Fischer projection. Side atoms are shown slightly forward to remind the viewer of the correct chirality.

A Video for Windows animation illustrates the Fischer projection using D-Glyceraldehyde.