Gulopyranose

Gulopyranose is a cyclic hemiacetal form of the aldohexose sugar gulose. Gulose itself is a monosaccharide, and like other hexoses, it exists in solution as an equilibrium mixture of open-chain and cyclic forms. The cyclic forms are predominantly pyranoses, which are six-membered rings containing five carbon atoms and one oxygen atom. Gulopyranose is thus one of the stereoisomers of pyranose.

The structure of gulopyranose is characterized by the arrangement of its hydroxyl groups around the pyranose ring. In the D-enantiomer, the hydroxyl group on carbon 2 is equatorial, on carbon 3 it is axial, on carbon 4 it is axial, and on carbon 5 it is equatorial. The hydroxyl group on carbon 1 (the anomeric carbon) can be either alpha (axial) or beta (equatorial), leading to alpha-gulopyranose and beta-gulopyranose, respectively. These two forms are anomers and interconvert through the open-chain form.

Gulopyranose is not a common sugar and is less abundant in nature compared to glucose or galactose. Its presence is often found in specific glycosides or as a component of more complex carbohydrates. Research into gulose and its derivatives, including gulopyranose, is ongoing to explore potential biological activities and applications.