the minimum number of carbon in a monosaccharide is
Monosaccharide With few exceptions (e.g., deoxyribose), monosaccharide have this chemical formula: Cx(H2O)y, where conventionally x â‰¥ 3. Monosaccharides can be classified by the number x of carbon atoms they contain: triose (3), tetrose (4), pentose (5), hexose (6), heptose (7), and so on.