Why are all the OH opposite to each other in D and L glucose?

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The discussion centers on the D and L nomenclature for glucose, clarifying that these designations refer to the configuration of the last chiral carbon in the molecule. However, since D- and L-glucose are enantiomers, all stereocenters, including the hydroxyl (OH) groups, are inverted between the two forms. The choice to base the D/L system on the configuration at the fifth carbon (C5) is somewhat arbitrary, as most naturally occurring aldohexoses share the same configuration at this position. This naming convention simplifies the identification of stereoisomers in biochemistry.
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Because D- and L-glucose are enantiomers (i.e. mirror images), their configuration is switched at all stereocenters of the molecule.
 
Ygggdrasil said:
Because D- and L-glucose are enantiomers (i.e. mirror images), their configuration is switched at all stereocenters of the molecule.

This makes sense. But then why do we care about the last chiral carbon?
 
We don't. Like many thing in biology, the choice on how to name the different stereoisomers of glucose is somewhat arbitrary. It just turns out that, if you draw all of the naturally occurring aldohexoses in a Fisher projection, almost all of them have the same configuration about C5, so biochemists chose that position to use as the basis for the D/L nomenclature system.
 
You are too kind, sir.
 

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