Trioses

D and L Terminology:  The simplest of all carbohydrates that fit the definition we have given for carbohydrates are the trioses, glyceraldehyde and dihydroxyacetone. Glyceraldehyde is aldotriose, and dihydroxyacetone is a ketotriose.    

Glyceraldehyde cont¬ains one asymmetric carbon atom (marked by an asterisk) and can thus exist in two optically active forms, called the D-form and the L-form. Clearly, the two forms are mirror images that cannot be superimposed, that is they are enantiomers.

The two forms of glyceraldehyde are especially important because the more complex monosaccharides may be considered to be derived from them. They serve as a reference point for designating and drawing all other monosaccharides. In carbohydrate chemistry, the Fischer projection formulas are always written with the aldehyde or ketone groups at the top of the structure. By definition, if the hydroxyl group on the asymmetric carbon atom farthest from aldehyde or ketone group projects to the right, the compound is a member of the D-family. If the hydroxyl group on the farthest asymmetric carbon projects to the left, the compound is a member of the L-family. The maximum number of optical isomers of a sugar is related to the number of asymmetric carbon atoms in the molecule and may be calculated by the following simple equation. 
Maximum Number of Optical Isomers = 2ⁿ, where n = the number of asymmetric carbon atoms.
Since glyceraldehyde contains only one asymmetric carbon atom, the number of optical isomer is 2¹. We know that 2¹ is = 2, and we have seen that there are indeed two different glyceraldehydes.