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Specialty Chemistry Forums => Biochemistry and Chemical Biology Forum => Topic started by: kimchi521 on March 25, 2010, 11:35:35 PM

Title: why glyceraldehyde does not have cyclic form
Post by: kimchi521 on March 25, 2010, 11:35:35 PM

why glyceraldehyde does not have cyclic form? while tetroses with only one more carbon atom form a ring readily.

Title: Re: why glyceraldehyde does not have cyclic form
Post by: Schrödinger on March 26, 2010, 12:29:10 AM

Glyceraldyhyde is a 3 carbon chain. If you attempt to form a ring using the OH on the 2nd carbon, you will get a 3-membered ring, which is highly strained.

Moreover, formation of the ring is improbable due to the orientation of the OH group...its quite far away from the 1st carbon.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glyceraldehyde for structure.