Biochemistry Notes

Carbon• Organic

molecules contain carbon.

• Carbon has 4 electrons available for bonding.

•

Isomers

• Have same chemical formula but different three dimensional structure

Polymer

• Polymer - a molecular chain made up of smaller molecules bonded together (poly = many)

Monomer

• Monomer - 1 subunit of a polymer (mono = one)

• Glucose is an example of a monomer

Macromolecules

• Macromolecule - large organic molecule made up of polymers

Carbohydrates• Organic compound made up of C, H & O• Store and release energy• Monosaccharide (glucose:C6H12O6,

fructose)• Disaccharide - 2 monosaccharides

(glucose + fructose = sucrose)• Polysaccharides (starch, cellulose,

glycogen) - food storage and cell structures– Glycogen - animal cells– Starch - plant energy – Cellulose-plant cell struct.

Polysaccharide

Cellulose in a Plant

Lipids• Monomers are fatty

acids • Ex.– fats, oils, &

phospholipids in cell membranes

• Non-polar - insoluble in water

• Structure– 3 fatty acids bonded to glycerol

Lipid function

Long-term energy storage, insulation, cell structure (lipid bi-layer/cell membrane)

Saturated Fatty Acid

•

• Solid at room temperature

• Bad for heart

• Meat, butter

• Contain lots of hydrogen atoms and carbons are linked with single bonds in fatty acid chain

Unsaturated Fatty Acid• Liquid at room

temperature• Good for your heart• Olive oil, nuts, fish.

• Contain few hydrogen atoms because carbon

atoms have double bonds in fatty acid

chain.

ProteinsProteins provide

structure (skin, hair, cartilage, muscle) and are carry out all cell metabolism (enzymes)

The shape determines function

Monomer—amino acidsLinked together by

peptide bonds (type of covalent bond)

Protein Structure• Primary – amino acid

sequence• Secondary - hydrogen

bonding between a.a.’s – causes twisting; 2-D shape

• Tertiary - additional folding – functional protein; 3-D shape

• Quaternary - 2 or more amino acid (polypeptide) chains– complex

Primary Structure

Secondary Teritary

Quaternary

Nucleic Acids• Macromolecule that stores and

transfers genetic material• Made up of nucleotides

– made up of a sugar, a phosphate group, and a nitrogen base

• DNA: deoxyribonucleic acid• RNA: ribonucleic acid

Nucleotides

Reactions of Polymers• Dehydration

Synthesis – small molecules are linked together to form large molecules

• Lose one molecule of water when this happens

• Hydrolysis – large molecules are broken down into smaller molecules.

• Water molecule is used to break up the polymer

Dehydration Synthesis

• Also called condensation reaction

• Two molecules become covalently bonded to one another

• One molecule looses OH – the other looses H to form water H2O

Hydrolysis

Molecule is split into two parts by reacting with water. One of the parts gets an OH- from the water molecule and the other part gets an H+ from the water.