What do two sugar isomers have in common?

1 Answer
Henry W. ยท Kate M.
Oct 18, 2016

The same molecular formula.

Explanation:

**Isomers ** are compounds which share a molecular formula but have different structures. E.g., glucose and fructose are both C_6H_12O_6, but have different structures.

![http://joelbergerdc.com/tag/glucose-vs-fructose/](useruploads.socratic.org)
As you can see here, glucose contains a 5 carbon ring and only one hydroxymethyl group (CH_2OH), whereas fructose contains a 4 carbon ring and two hydroxymethyl groups. They do, however, contain the same number of each type of atom and are able to be converted to each other by isomerase enzymes.

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