What do two sugar isomers have in common?

1 Answer
Oct 18, 2016

The same molecular formula.

Explanation:

Isomers are compounds which share a molecular formula but have different structures. E.g., glucose and fructose are both #C_6H_12O_6#, but have different structures.

http://joelbergerdc.com/tag/glucose-vs-fructose/
As you can see here, glucose contains a 5 carbon ring and only one hydroxymethyl group (#CH_2OH#), whereas fructose contains a 4 carbon ring and two hydroxymethyl groups. They do, however, contain the same number of each type of atom and are able to be converted to each other by isomerase enzymes.