Chapter 23 ? 2010, Prentice Hall Organic Chemistry, 7th Edition L. G. Wade, Jr. Carbohydrates and Nucleic Acids Chapter 23 * Carbohydrates Synthesized by plants using sunlight to convert CO2 and H2O to glucose and O2. Polymers include starch and cellulose. Starch is a storage unit for solar energy. Most sugars have formula Cn(H2O)n, ?hydrate of carbon.? Chapter 23 Chapter 23 * Classification of Carbohydrates Monosaccharides or simple sugars: polyhydroxyaldehydes or aldoses polyhydroxyketones or ketoses Disaccharides can be hydrolyzed to two monosaccharides. Polysaccharides hydrolyze to many monosaccharide units. For example, starch and cellulose have > 1000 glucose units. Chapter 23 Chapter 23 * Monosaccharides Classified using three criteria: