Allose is an

aldohexose In chemistry, a hexose is a monosaccharide (simple sugar) with six carbon atoms. The chemical formula for all hexoses is , and their molecular weight is 180.156 g/mol. Hexoses exist in two forms, open-chain or cyclic, that easily convert into e ...

sugar. It is a rare

monosaccharide Monosaccharides (from Greek '' monos'': single, '' sacchar'': sugar), also called simple sugars, are the simplest forms of sugar and the most basic units (monomers) from which all carbohydrates are built. Chemically, monosaccharides are polyhy ...

that occurs as a 6-O-cinnamyl glycoside in the leaves of the African shrub ''

Protea ''Protea'' () is a genus of South African flowering plants, also called sugarbushes (Afrikaans: ''suikerbos''). It is the type genus of the Proteaceae family. About 92% of the species occur only in the Cape Floristic Region, a narrow belt of mo ...

rubropilosa''. Extracts from the fresh-water alga ''Ochromas malhamensis'' contain this sugar but of unknown absolute configuration. It is soluble in water and practically insoluble in

methanol Methanol (also called methyl alcohol and wood spirit, amongst other names) is an organic chemical compound and the simplest aliphatic Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol, with the chemical formula (a methyl group linked to a hydroxyl group, often ab ...

. Reduction of allose by catalytic hydrogenation produces an obscure

sugar alcohol Sugar alcohols (also called polyhydric alcohols, polyalcohols, alditols or glycitols) are organic compounds, typically derived from sugars, containing one hydroxyl group attached to each carbon atom. They are white, water-soluble solids that c ...

allitol which is rarely used in the chemical industry.National Center for Biotechnology Information (2025). PubChem Compound Summary for CID 120700, Allitol. Retrieved January 21, 2025 fro
Allitol
Allose is a C-3

epimer In stereochemistry, an epimer is one of a pair of diastereomers. The two epimers have opposite configuration at only one stereogenic center out of at least two. All other stereogenic centers in the molecules are the same in each. Epimerization is t ...

glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecular formula , which is often abbreviated as Glc. It is overall the most abundant monosaccharide, a subcategory of carbohydrates. It is mainly made by plants and most algae d ...

Notes

References

* Carbohydrates, edited by P.M. Collins, Chapman and Hall, Aldohexoses Pyranoses {{Ether-stub