See if you can see the phosphodiester linkage in figure 2.9 on page 32. Monosaccharides are the smallest type of carbohydrate formed by hydrolysis reactions. The hydrolysis reaction splits a molecule into its component parts by inserting a water molecule into a bond. Monosaccharides can be broken into smaller parts but not by hydrolysis reaction. Characterization of monosaccharides is done by the type of functional group on the molecule and chain length.
Some important monosaccharides are the following.
Disaccharides are formed by the condensation reaction between just two monosaccharides. Some important disaccharides are the following. Sucrose is formed by combination of fructose and glucose. This is the cane sugar that you put in your coffee or on your breakfast cereal. See figure 2.1 on page 25.