Glucose is a simple
sugar and an important
carbohydrate in
biology.
Cells use it as the primary source of energy
and a metabolic intermediate. Glucose is one of the main products of
photosynthesis and fuels for
cellular respiration. Glucose exists in several different molecular structures, but all of these structures can be divided into two families of mirror-images. Only one set of these isomers exists in nature, those derived from the "
right-handed form" of glucose, denoted D-glucose. D-glucose is often referred to as dextrose. The term dextrose is derived from
dextrorotatory glucose.
Solutions of dextrose rotate
polarized light to the right.
Starch and
cellulose are
polymers derived from the dehydration of D-glucose. The other stereoisomer, called
L-glucose, is hardly ever found in nature.
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