Xylose

D-Xylose
IUPAC name	D-Xylose
Other names	(+)-Xylose Wood sugar
Identifiers
CAS number	58-86-6 Y, 609-06-3 (L-isomer) 41247-05-6 (racemate)
PubChem	6027
EC-number	200-400-7
Properties[1][2]
Molecular formula	C5H10O5
Molar mass	150.13 g/mol
Appearance	monoclinic needles or prisms, colourless
Density	1.525 g/cm3 (20 °C)
Melting point	144-145 °C
Chiral rotation [α]D	+22.5º (CHCl3)
Related compounds
Related aldopentoses	Arabinose Ribose Lyxose
Related compounds	Xylulose
Y (what is this?)  (verify) Except where noted otherwise, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C, 100 kPa)
Infobox references

Xylose (cf. Greek ξυλος, xylos, "wood"), or wood sugar, is an aldopentose — a monosaccharide containing five carbon atoms and including an aldehyde functional group. It has chemical formula C₅H₁₀O₅. Xylose is found in the embryos of most edible plants. It was first isolated from wood by Koch in 1881. With its free carbonyl group, it is a reducing sugar.

In animal medicine, xylose is used to test for malabsorption by administration in water to the patient after fasting. If xylose is detected in blood and/or urine within the next few hours, it has been absorbed by the intestines.^[3] Reduction of xylose by catalytic hydrogenation produces the sugar substitute xylitol.

Xylose is also the first saccharide added to the serine or threonine in the proteoglycan type O-glycosylation and so it is the first saccharide in biosynthetic pathways of most anionic polysaccharides such as heparan sulfate and chondroitin sulfate.^[4]

See also

• Xylose metabolism
• Xylonic acid

References