| hemiketal | RC(R')(OH)OR', a product of the addition of an alcohol to a ketone. In the ketose sugars, the hemiketal formation is from an attack by an internal OH on the ketone carbonyl leading to intramolecular cyclization (furanose or pyranose); the hemiketal forms of the sugars are involved in polysaccharide formation, as glycosyls or glycosides. See: hemiacetal, ketal. (05 Mar 2000) |
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