aldotriose

9.9

A simple sugar made of three carbon atoms, like glyceraldehyde

noun
/ˌæl.doʊˈtraɪ.oʊs/

Specialized

: aldotriosa

Glyceraldehyde, a simple aldotriose, plays a crucial role in metabolism.

Examples

Glyceraldehyde is classified as an aldotriose in organic chemistry textbooks.
An aldotriose consists of three carbon atoms.
Aldotriose is the simplest form of aldose sugar containing only three carbon atoms.
Researchers studied the structure of aldotriose to better understand carbohydrate chemistry.
Glyceraldehyde is the most common aldotriose.
In their experiments, scientists isolated an aldotriose to analyze its chemical properties.
Understanding the structure of an aldotriose like glyceraldehyde is essential for biochemistry students.

Synonyms

glyceraldehyde

vsaldotriose

Specialized

1 9.9

A small sweet molecule made when sugars break down in cells and used as a middle step in energy production

is the only three carbon sugar that contains an aldehyde group

aldose

vsaldotriose

Specialized

1 9.8

A simple sugar with a chemical group called an aldehyde at one end

is limited to sugars that also have three carbons, not all aldehyde sugars

triose

vsaldotriose

Specialized

9.9

A simple sugar that has three carbon atoms in each molecule

is specific to ones that have an aldehyde group, not all three carbon sugars

Surface Forms

aldotriose singular

aldotriose plural

Morphology

aldotriose = triose (semi-transparent) = aldo + triose

Formally compositional in chemical nomenclature (aldo- + triose), but the morphemes are specialized combining forms that may be unknown to general learners.

Etymology

The word aldotriose breaks into aldo-, tri-, and -ose, where aldo- refers to the 'aldehyde' group, a simple chemical part at one end, tri- means 'three' like in triangle, and -ose is the ending for 'sugar' as in glucose. So an aldotriose is literally a 'three-carbon sugar' with an 'aldehyde' end, which is why glyceraldehyde is the only aldotriose.