Ribose is a five carbon sugar (pentose) that is critical to living creatures. It is a component of the RNA that is used for genetic transcription, and is related to deoxyribose which is a component of DNA. It is also a component of ATP, NADH, and several other chemicals that are critical to the metabolic process .
Refer to the article on Deoxyribose for more information on both sugars, how they relate to each other, and how they relate to genetic material.
Isomerism
D-Ribose has the same configuration at its penultimate carbon as D-glyceraldehyde.
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