Chapter 24, Problem 33CQ

Summary Introduction

To explain: The reason why the most commonly observed conformations of the ribose ring in which either atom C2′ or atom C3′ is out of the plane of the other four rings.

Concept introduction: Sugar pucker is the conformational variation observed in the ribose ring of the DNA/RNA molecule that are aroused from the restricted bond rotations occurring within the ribose ring. In this ribose ring, each carbon atom takes various orientations and results in different conformations. Most commonly found ribose sugar consists of a structure where four among the five carbon atoms are coplanar and one is out of the plane; this could be either C2′ or atom C3′.