ß-D-Glucose

β-D-Glucose is critical for production of proteins and the lipid metabolism. β-D-Glucose is a main source of energy for living organisms and is combined into glucosides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides, polysaccharides (cellulose and starch), and glycogen.

D-Glucose, a naturally occurring monosaccharide found in plants, is the primary energy source for living organisms. It is utilized as a metabolic intermediate by cells for either aerobic or anaerobic respiration. D-Glucose exists in two cyclic forms, α-D-glucose and β-D-glucose, based on the position of the substituent at the anomeric center. α-D-Glucose is the monomer unit in starch, whereas β-D-glucose is the monomer unit in cellulose. When one of these anomers is added to solution, it undergoes reversible epimerization to the other via an open-chain form, during which the specific rotation of the solution changes gradually until it reaches equilibrium. The existence of multiple binding modes of this single monosaccharide has been studied as a model scaffold to design compounds with increased probability of ligand binding.