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Organic Chemistry – Carbon Chemistry and Macromolecules

See also Biochemistry
Carbon Chemistry
  • Organic chemistry is the study of all compounds that contain bonds between Carbon atoms.
  • Four major elements that are found in biological organic compounds are:
Carbon, Oxygen, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Sulfur, and Phosphorus

Carbon

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Lewis Dot Structure and the Structual Formula for a carbon atom

How many bonds can carbon make with other atoms? FOUR

  • Lewis Dot Structure for a carbon atom
    Lewis Dot Structure for a carbon atom

Importance of Carbon

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File:Ch4-structure.svg
Methane
  1. Carbon can make 4 covalent bonds with other atoms. This makes it flexible; it can bond with many elements.
  2. A carbon atom can bond with another carbon atom to create long carbon chains/carbon ring structures.

Carbon atoms bonded to hydrogen atoms are known as Hydrocarbons, an example is Methane.

Macromolecules

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  • What is a macromolecule?
A giant molecule made from 100 to 1,000 of smaller molecules.
  • What are macromolecules made up of?
Monomers
  • What is polymerization?
When monomer ions join together to form polymers
  • What is dehydration synthesis?
When a water molecule is removed to join 2 monomers together.
  • What is hydrolysis?
When a water molecule is split to break bonds between monomers.

Monomer for each Macromolecule

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  •  
    Carbohydrate Monomer = Monosaccharides (monomers)
  •  
    Lipid Monomer = Triglycerides (monomers)
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    Protein Monomer = Amino Acids (monomers)
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    Nucleic Acid Monomer = Nucleotides (monomers)

Four major macromolecules

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What are the four major macromolecules in living things?
Macromolecule Example
Carbohydrates Sugar
Lipids Vegetable Oil
Proteins Beef
Nucleic Acids DNA

Carbohydrates

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Glucose - A carbohydrate that is beneficial to plants
  • What is a carbohydrate?
Compounds made up of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms. These are usually combined in a ratio of 1, 2, 1.
  • Why are they important in living things?
Short-Term Energy Use and carbohydrates serve as a structure in organisms... EX: Chitin in exoskeleton of athropods.
  • What are monomers for carbohydrates known as?
Monosaccharides
  • What are the three monosaccharides for carbohydrates?
  •  
    Glucose
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    Galactose
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    Fructose
  • Monosaccharides bond together to form chains of polysaccharides.
    • EX: Glycogen1, Cellulose2, Chitin3

How much energy is in 1 gram of carbohydrates? 4 CALORIES

References

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  1. Glycogen is a carbohydrate storage in animals.
  2. Cellulose is a carbohydrate in cell walls of plants.
  3. Chitin is a carbohydrate in the cell walls of bacteria and fungi

Lipids

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  • What are lipids?
Macromolecules that are generally not soluble in water. They are composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.
  • What makes up a lipid monomer?
Glycerol and Fatty Acid Chains

Importance of Lipids

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Crocodile Oil
  1. Long-term energy storage
  2. Protection/Insulation
  3. Membrane Structure
  4. Acting as a chemical messenger
Lipid Polymers
  • Fats - Come from animals and is solid at room temperature.
  • Oils - Come from plants and stays liquid at room temperature.
  • Waxes - Come from bees.

Satured and Unsaturated Fatty Acids

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Look at the bonds in the saturated and unsaturated fatty acids

1. What is a saturated fatty acid?

When there are only single bonds between all carbon atoms in the fatty acid chains of a lipid.

2. What is an unsaturated fatty acid?

When there are double and triple bonds between carbon atoms in a fatty acid chain.

How much energy in 1 gram of lipid? 9 CALORIES

Nucleic Acids

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The structure of nucleotides
  • Nucleic acids are macromolecules that contain the following elements
  1. Carbon
  2. Hydrogen
  3. Oxygen
  4. Nitrogen
  5. Phosphorus
The monomers for nucleic acids are called...
  • Nucleotides
Three components of a nucleic acid nucleotide are
  1. Phosphate group
  2. 5-carbon sugar
  3. Nitrogenous Base
Nucleotides will bond together to form...
  • Nucleic Acids
The main function of nucleic acids is to...
  • Store and transmit genetic information
 
DNA
Two kinds of nucleic acids are
  1. DNA
  2. RNA

Proteins

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Take note: Amino group on the left, Carboxyl group on the right, and the special "R" group
  • Proteins are macromolecules that contain the following elements:
  1. Carbon
  2. Hydrogen
  3. Oxygen
  4. Nitrogen
  • The monomers for proteins are called amino acids.
  • The general structure of an amino acid is:
All amino acids have an amino group and a carboxyl group
The R group distinguishes one amino acid from another
There are a total of 20 amino acids
  • Amino acids are bonded together through peptide bonds to form protein--or polypeptide chains.

Organizations

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Proteins are joined together in up to four different levels of organization.

Primary
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  • Polypeptide chain of amino acids.
Secondary
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  • Polypeptide chain can twist (helix) or fold (sheets) due to weak bonds between amino acids.
Tertiary
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  • Polypeptide chain as whole twists and folds.
Quaternary
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  • Multiple chains are arranged into a complex protein (2-4 polypeptide chains grouped together).

Functions

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  1. Structural components in cells
  2. Regulate cell processes and chemical reactions
  3. Transport substances across the cell membrane
  4. Act as receptors to certain compounds
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