2.3 Carbon Compounds

Building blocks of life

• Carbohydrates

• Lipids

• Proteins

• Nucleic Acids

  • Organic: carbon forms framework

Organic

Carbon form’s their framework

Characteristics of carbon

• 4 valence electrons

  • 4 covalent bonds

Carbon bonds to

• carbon

• oxygen

• nitrogen 

• sulfur

• hydrogen 

• phosphorus

Carbon backbone

Carbon atoms join to form carbon-based molecules

• MUST include multiple carbons

  • Ex: Glucose (C₆H₁₂O₆)

Anabolisim 

Add

• energy→complex molecules

• consumes energy

Catabolisim

Cut

• Break down comples→usuable energy

Macromolecules

Very large molecules made of thousands of smaller molecules

• Not all macromolecules are polymers

Polymer

Long chain of REPEATING monomers

Monomer

Single subunit making up polymer’s

Polymer: Carbohydrates

Monomer: Sugar (Saccharide)

• Short-term energy

• C, H, O

  • C(H₂O); 1:2:1

Polymer: Lipid

Monomer: Fatty acid chain

• Long-term energy

  • Cushion for organs

• C, H, O

• Func. group: Carboxyl (-COOH)

Polymer: Protein

Monomer: Amino Acid

• Rebuilds muscle

• C, H, N, O, S

• Func. group: Amino (-NH₂), Carboxyl (-COOH)

• Amino Acid Composition:

  • R group (variable side group)

    • determines the type of amino acids

  • Amino Group: -NH₂

  • Carboxyl Group: -COOH

Polymer: Nucleic Acid

Monomer: Nucleotides

• Stores genetic info

• C, H, N, O, P

• 3 components

  • Func. group: Phosphate group (p)

  • Pentose (5-C) sugar

  • Nitrogen-containing base

    • adenine

    • guanine

    • cytosine

    • thymine

    • uracil

      
      

Synthesis

Smaller molecules join together to form larger molecules

Polymerization

Synthesis of monomers to make polymers

• Type of synthesis reaction

Condensation Polymerization

Dehydration synthesis

• Type of synthesis reaction

• Joins monomers to make a polymer

  • Releases water as byproduct

Monosaccharide

Type of carbohydrate

• One saccharide

• Simple sugar

• Building block

  • Ex: Glucose

Disaccharide

Type of carbohydrate

• Two monosaccharides

  • Ex: Glucose + fructose = sucrose + H₂O

Oligosaccharide

Type of carbohydrate

• 3-10 monosaccharides bonded together

Polysaccharide

Type of carbohydrate

• Many monosaccharides

• Long sugar chain

  • Structure:

    • Cellulose (think celery)

    • Chitin

  • Storage

    • Glycogen

    • Starch

Lipids

Consists of glycerol molecule + fatty acid chain

• chain: methyl (-CH) units

• Carboxyl group (-COOH) at one end

Hydrophobic: Water-fearing

• Does not bond with water well

  • Water=polar

  • Lipids=non-polar

    • clumps together due to polarity

Triglyceride

Glycerol Molecule + 3 Fatty Acid Chains

Saturated

No double bonds exist

• Maximum # of hydrogen bonds exists

• Solid

Unsaturated

Molecule has at least one double bond

• Isn’t maximum # of hydrogen bonds

• Liquid

Peptide bond

Involves (Polymer: Protein)

• Covalent bond between amino group of one amino acid another carboxyl group of another amino acid

  • Summary: Holding two amino acids

Polypeptide bond

Involves (Polymer: Protein)

• Holding many bonds between amino acids