They explain a phenomenon that conditions all the chemistry of sugars

2011/02/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Kimika

It is one of the basic structures of sugars and serves to illustrate the anomeric effect. The larger groups of atoms of a molecule tend, in general, to be placed in two positions: axial (in orange) and equatorial (in green). It could be thought that these large groups of atoms are placed in an equatorial position, since having more space diminish their interactions. The opposite occurs, they tend to be placed in the axial position, which is known as abnormalities effect. Image: Image: Guillermo Roa.

One of the most important factors that conditions the chemistry of biomolecules is the three-dimensional structure of the molecule itself. In the case of sugars, among other things, it is reflected in the anomeric effect. The anomeric effect is the tendency of the larger groups of atoms in a molecule to be placed above or below the molecular plane, and not on the molecular plane. Emilio J. UPV Professor of Physical Chemistry Cook, in collaboration with the University of Oxford, has for the first time known the anomeric effect on a sugar. "There was no doubt that this effect was produced, but so far it has never been described," he explained. The result of the study was published in the journal Nature.

Cook has shown that the external anomeric effect (exo) prevails over the internal anomeric effect (endo). Thus, "the results indicate that it is possible that it is necessary to review the influence of the effect anomalies in both chemistry and biology. It occurs in most sugars". In turn, research can help us explain why the organism chooses certain sugars, although in nature other sugars are more abundant. "In short, the goal is to have a more real vision of what happens in our organism," says Cocinero.