galactopyranose
Galactopyranose is a cyclic form of galactose, a monosaccharide sugar. It is one of the stereoisomers of glucose and is a component of many important biological molecules. In its free form, galactose exists in solution primarily as galactopyranose, along with smaller amounts of its open-chain form and other cyclic forms like galactofuranose. The pyranose form, characterized by a six-membered ring structure containing five carbon atoms and one oxygen atom, is the most stable and prevalent.
Galactopyranose can exist in two anomeric forms: alpha (α) and beta (β), distinguished by the orientation of the