“OH” is removed from glucose and “H” is removed from fructose (OH + H = water) and forms sucrose. What chemical reaction is used to break down large molecules (polymers) into smaller molecules (monomers)? The chemical reaction is hydrolysis. What is hydrolysis? In other words, water (hydro) is added to the chemical reaction which breaks down (lyses) the large molecule into smaller molecules. For example, 1 disaccharide (sucrose) is broken down into 2 monosaccharides (glucose and fructose) by hydrolysis. When water is added to sucrose, the “OH” forms glucose and the “H” forms fructose. Carbohydrates What is a carbohydrate? Drink water to hydrate. So a carbohydrate is a carbon with water (C + H2O = CH2O).• Carbo = Carbon