1. A monosaccharide or sugar that contains a six-membered ring structure with one oxygen atom, formed when a five-carbon aldose or six-carbon ketose sugar cyclizes.
Usage: chemistry; biochemistry; technical term

Examples

• Glucose exists primarily in the pyranose form in aqueous solution.
• The pyranose ring structure is the most stable configuration for many common sugars.
• Fructose can adopt either a pyranose or furanose form depending on conditions.
• In biochemistry, understanding pyranose structures is essential for studying carbohydrate metabolism.
• The alpha and beta anomers of glucose pyranose differ in the orientation of the hydroxyl group at the anomeric carbon.