What is the difference between an aldose and a ketose?
1 Answer
Jan 23, 2016
An aldose contains an aldehyde group; a ketose contains a ketone group,
Explanation:
The ending -ose tells you that both aldoses and ketoses are carbohydrates.
Carbohydrates are just polyhydroxyaldehydes (aldoses) or polyhydroxyketones (ketoses).
So, for a carbohydrate to be an aldose it needs an aldehyde group and, to be a ketose, it needs a ketone group.
In the structures below, the aldehyde and ketone carbonyl groups have a pink highlight.
Examples of aldoses are glucose
and ribose.
Examples of ketoses are fructose
and ribulose
(from 2012books.lardbucket.org)
