betaarabinofuranose

beta-Arabinofuranose is a form of the sugar arabinose. It is a pentose, meaning it is a monosaccharide with five carbon atoms. The 'beta' designation refers to the stereochemistry at the anomeric carbon, the carbon atom that becomes chiral upon cyclization. In arabinose, the hydroxyl group at this anomeric carbon is oriented upwards in the standard Haworth projection of the furanose ring. 'Furanose' indicates that the sugar has cyclized to form a five-membered ring structure, resembling furan.

beta-Arabinofuranose exists in equilibrium with its open-chain form and other cyclic forms, primarily the alpha anomer and the pyranose forms. This sugar is a component of various complex carbohydrates, including some polysaccharides found in plant cell walls, such as arabinans and arabinoxylans. It can also be found in certain glycoproteins and glycolipids. While not as common as glucose or fructose in many biological processes, beta-arabinofuranose plays a role in structural elements and is a building block for more complex carbohydrate structures. Its presence and function are often studied in the context of plant biology and glycochemistry.