In sucrose, the component sugars glucose and fructose are linked via an α (alpha) 1 on the glucose, to a β (beta) 2 on the fructose glycosidic linkage.[2]
Like other carbohydrates, sucrose has a hydrogen to oxygen ratio of 2:1. It consists of two monosaccharides, α-glucose and fructose, joined by a glycosidic bond between carbon atom 1 of the glucose unit and carbon atom 2 of the fructose unit. What is notable about sucrose is that unlike most disaccharides, the glycosidic bond is formed between the reducing ends of both glucose and fructose, and not between the reducing end of one and the nonreducing end of the other. This linkage inhibits further bonding to other saccharide units. Since it contains no anomeric hydroxyl groups, it is classified as a nonreducing sugar. Acidic hydrolysis can be used to convert sucrose into glucose and fructose. But hydrolysis is so slow that solutions of sucrose can sit for years with negligible change. If the enzyme sucrase is added, however, the reaction will proceed rapidly.