Carbohydrate conformation refers to the overall three-dimensional structure adopted by a carbohydrate (saccharide) molecule as a result of the through-bond and through-space physical forces it experiences arising from its molecular structure. The physical forces that dictate the three-dimensional shapes of all molecules—here, of all monosaccharide, oligosaccharide, and polysaccharide molecules—are sometimes summarily captured by such terms as "steric interactions" and "stereoelectronic effects" (see below).
Saccharide and other chemical conformations can be reasonably shown using two-dimensional structure representations that follow set conventions; these capture for a trained viewer an understanding of the three-dimensional structure via structure drawings (see organic chemistry article, and "3D Representations" section in molecular geometry article); they are also represented by stereograms on the two dimensional page, and increasingly using 3D display technologies on computer monitors.
Formally and quantitatively, conformation is captured by description of a molecule's angles—for example, sets of three sequential atoms (bond angles) and four sequential atoms (torsion angles, dihedral angles), where the locations and angular directions of non-bonding lone pair electrons must sometimes also be taken into account.
Conformations adopted by saccharide molecules in response to the physical forces arising from their bonding and nonbonding electrons, modified by the molecule's interactions with its aqueous or other solvent environment, strongly influence their reactivity with and recognition by other molecules (processes which in turn can alter conformation). Chemical transformations and biological signalling mediated by conformation-dependent molecular recognition between molecules underlie all essential processes in living organisms.