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Simple sugars refer to monosaccharides. They are made up of a single unit of polyhydroxy aldehyde or ketone. These are crystalline solids that are colorless and easily soluble in water but insoluble in nonpolar solvents.

Simple sugars can be utilized as a source of energy, transformed into other organic molecules, joined into polymers, and formed into rings. D-glucose, a six-carbon sugar, is the most prevalent monosaccharide.

Unbranched carbon chains, in which single bonds link all carbon atoms, form the backbone of common monosaccharide compounds. Monosaccharides can function on their own or as a monomer for disaccharides and polysaccharides.

In monosaccharides, one of the carbon atoms is double-bonded to an oxygen atom to form a carbonyl group in the open-chain form. In contrast, each of the other carbon atoms has a hydroxyl group.

The monosaccharide is an aldose if the carbonyl group is at the end of the carbon chain (in an aldehyde group); the monosaccharide is a ketose if the carbonyl group is at any other position (in a ketone group).

Monosaccharides have the chemical formula (CH2O)n, with n equal to more than 3. Thus, the formula for trioses is (CH2O)3, i.e., C3H6O3.

Glyceraldehyde or dihydroxyacetone has the formula C3H6O3. These two three-carbon monosaccharides are trioses; glyceraldehyde is an aldotriose, and dihydroxyacetone is a ketotriose.