Page "Monosaccharide" Paragraph 14

Distinct stereoisomers that are not mirror-images of each other usually have different chamical properties, even in non-chiral environments.

Therefore, each mirror pair and each non-chiral stereoisomer may be given a specific monosaccharide name.

For example, there are 16 distinct aldohexose stereoisomers, but the name " glucose " means a specific pair of mirror-image aldohexoses.

In the Fischer projection, one of the two glucose isomers has the hydroxyl at left on C3, and at right on C4 and C5 ; while the other isomer has the reversed pattern.

These specific monosaccharide names have conventional three-letter abbreviations, like ' Glu ' for glucose and ' Thr ' for threose.