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In sugar chemistry, an anomer is a special type of epimer. It is a stereoisomer (diastereomer, more exactly) of a saccharide (in the cyclic form) that differs only in its configuration at the hemiacetal or hemiketal carbon. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... An anomeric carbon is the new stereocenter created in forming the cyclic structure of a monosaccharide. ... A sugar is a carbohydrate which is sweet to taste. ... Chemistry (in Greek: χημεία) is the science of matter that deals with the composition, structure, and properties of substances and with the transformations that they undergo. ... In chemistry, an epimer is a stereoisomer that has a different configuration at only one of several stereogenic centers. ... Stereoisomerism is the arrangement of atoms in molecules whose connectivity remains the same but their arrangement in space is different in each isomer. ... Diastereomers are stereoisomers that are not mirror images of eachother. ... an essential structural component of living cells and source of energy for animals; includes simple sugars with small molecules as well as macromolecular substances; are classified according to the number of monosaccharide groups they contain. ... A hemiacetal is a functional group or compound containing the function group in the form of: where R and R are any carbon backbones. ... A hemiacetal is a functional group or compound containing the function group in the form of: where R and R are any carbon backbones. ...

For example, α-D-glucopyranose and β-D-glucopyranose, the two cyclic forms of glucose, are anomers. A space-filling model of glucose Glucose, a simple monosaccharide sugar, is one of the most important carbohydrates and is used as a source of energy in animals and plants. ...

The term for interconversion between the two anomers is mutarotation. Mutarotation is the change in specific rotation that occurs when an α (alpha) or β (beta) hemiacetal form of carbohydrate is converted into an equilibrium mixture of the two forms. ...