Biochemistry Organic Compounds

Organic compounds

Macromolecules: large molecules (polymers) made by stringing together smaller molecules

What do organic compounds always contain?

Carbon and hydrogen

What element has to be in organic compounds?

Carbon

What are the characteristic of organic molecules?

Always contain carbon and hydrogen, sometimes contain nitrogen, almost always contains oxygen, can contain other elements such as P, S, Ca, and K, only found in living things

What are the 4 main groups of organic molecules?

Carbohydrates, Lipids, Proteins, and Nucleic Acids

Inorganic compounds

Simple, molecular or ionic structures that are also found in living things but do not contain carbon

Why is carbon important to organic compounds?

All organic compounds must contain carbon, carbon chains make up organic molecules, it is able to have 4 covalent bonds

How many bonds can carbon have and why?

4 Covalent bonds because it needs 4 valence electrons to be stable

What are the different ways that carbon can bond?

In chains with double, single, or triple bonds, or in rings.

What are carbon chains called?

Hydrocarbon chains

What structure do carbohydrates bond in?

Rings

What structure do lipids bond in?

Hydrocarbon chains

Why are some carbon rings shown without elements?

The hydrogen and carbon atoms are implied

What elements are in carbohydrates?

Carbon, Hydrogen, and Oxygen

What are the building blocks of carbohydrates?

Monosaccharides (simple sugars)

What is the molecular formula for all monosaccharides?

C6H12O6

What is the ratio of hydrogen atoms to Oxygen atoms in carbohydrates?

2:1

2:1

The ratio of Hydrogen to Oxygen atoms in carbohydrates

Why can the same molecular formula create different sugars?

The atoms can be arranged in different ways to form different monosaccharides

What are the three common monosaccharides?

Glucose, Fructose, and Galactose

What do all sugars end in?

OSE

What do carbohydrates do for our body?

Carbohydrates provide quick energy

What organic compound does our body use first?

Carbohydrates

Cellular Respiration

Process by which cells break down sugars

Disaccharide

2 monosaccharides joined together

What are common disaccharides?

Lactose, maltose, sucrose

Sucrose

table sugar

Maltose

malt (in beer and malts)

Lactose

milk

What does it mean to be lactose intolerant?

Your body cannot break down the lactose in foods

Polysaccharide

Many sugars joined together

What are common polysaccharides?

Starch, Glycogen, Cellulose

What is starch?

potato, pasta, bread

What is glycogen?

Polysaccharide stored in liver and muscles

What is cellulose?

Plant starch that makes up cell walls

Why can humans break down starch but not cellulose?

Cellulose is a plant starch, therefore the body does not contain an enzyme that is able to catalyze the cellulose substrate. Cellulose also has a different structure than starch

Catabolic reaction

Breaking down

Anabolic reaction

Building together

What is dehydration synthesis?

The process of bonding compounds together by removing water

What bonds together during dehydration synthesis?

The OH groups in each molecule bond together. 2 Hydrogen and 1 oxygen is taken and removed from the molecules, leaving the molecules to be bonded by the remaining Oxygen atom

What process do all organic molecules use to bond together?

Dehydration synthesis

What happens when you take 2 monosaccharides and remove water?

You get a disaccharide

What kind of reaction is Dehydration synthesis?

Anabolic reaction- it joins 2 compounds together

What kind of reaction is Hydrolysis?

Catabolic reaction- It breaks molecules apart

What is hydrolysis?

The process by which molecules are broken apart by adding water

Where does the water molecule go in hydrolysis?

The place from which it was removed in dehydration synthesis and the original OH groups are restored

What are the functions of lipids?

Long term storage of energy and carbon and the building of structural parts of the cell membrane

What are phospholipids?

A type of lipid that makes up the cell membrane

What is cholesterol?

A lipid that is a part of the cell membrane and is important in maintaining the structure of the membrane

What can too much cholesterol do?

Be a factor in heart disease and strokes

What increases cholesterol?

Saturated fats- increase the amount of cholesterol in your body

Do simple lipids dissolve in water?

No, simple lipids are nonpolar and hydrophobic (afraid of water, essentially).

What elements do lipids contain?

Carbon, Hydrogen, and Oxygen

What is the ratio of Hydrogen to Oxygen in Lipids

There is not set ratio, but there are more hydrogen atoms and less oxygen atoms

Which yields more energy, a gram of fat or a gram of carbohydrates?

A gram of fat because they are bigger, so they break down over a longer period of time

What are the building blocks of lipids?

Glycerol and fatty acid

What is glycerol?

An alcohol that has 3 OH groups on its molecule and is a vertical chain structure

What is fatty acid?

A molecule that consists of a chain of carbon atoms to which hydrogens are bonded. There is a carboxyl group at the end of the chain

What is the name for compounds containing carboxyl groups?

Organic acids

What do the properties of fatty acids depend on?

The length of the carbon chain and the bonds between the carbons.

How many atoms do common fatty acids usually have?

16-18

What are the 2 types of fatty acids?

Saturated fatty acids and unsaturated fatty acids.

Saturated fatty acid

Single bonds join the carbons. Examples include butter and lard. Saturated fatty acids are usually solid at room temperature. Each Carbon is bonded to 2 hydrogen atoms

Unsaturated fatty acid

Fatty acids with double or triple bonds between the carbons. Examples include olive oil or corn oil. Usually liquid at room temperature. There are fewer hydrogen atoms because of the double and triple bonds fill the bonding sites.

Monosaturated

A fat that has one unsaturated molecule

Which fatty acid is better for you and why?

Unsaturated because the double and triple bonds are easier to break down than single bonds

Polyunsaturated

A fat that has chains with more than one double or triple carbon

Hydrogenation

The process by which unsaturated fats are turned into saturated fats by adding hydrogen to them

What happened in Hydrogenation?

The hydrogen breaks down the double and triple bonds that make the unsaturated fat, causing all the bonds between the carbons to be single

Transfat

Worst type of fat for your body. It is hard for the body to break down

What combines to make a molecule of fat?

Three fatty acids and one glycerol (Triglyceride)

How are the fatty acid and glycerol molecules combined to make a molecule of fat?

Through dehydration synthesis. They become bonded between the OH groups.

How many molecules of water are lost in the making of a fat molecule?

3

What are the jobs of proteins?

1. Parts of the structure of the cell (cell membrane)

2. Messengers and receptors of messages between the cells (hormones)

3. Important in defense against disease (Antibodies made by white blood cells)

4. Make up skin, hair, muscles, and parts of the skeleton (Keratin strengthens nails)

5. Enzymes; all enzymes are proteins (speeds up chemical reactions in cells)

What elements do proteins contain?

C, H, O, and N

What are the building blocks of proteins?

Amino acids

What are the main parts of an amino acid?

Carboxyl group, amino group, central carbon, single hydrogen, carbon side chain (R)

How many different amino acids are there?

20

How are 2 amino acids bonded together?

Dehydration synthesis between the amino group and the carboxyl group of 2 amino acids. One molecule is lost

What is the name for 2 AA bonded together?

Dipeptide

What is the name for the bond between AA?

Peptide bond

What is the name for 3 or more AA bonded together?

Polypeptide

What makes proteins different from one another?

The number, sequence, and type or amino acids

Cross links

When the protein twists and folds on themselves and becomes bonded to each other.

What do proteins do in order to fit in the cell?

Fold and twist themselves

Catalyst

A substance that affects a reaction without entering into that reaction. Enzymes are catalysts

Why can a small amount of enzyme catalyze a large amount of substrate?

Enzymes do not enter into a reaction, so they do not change in any way. They can be used again and again

Substrate

The substance the enzyme acts upon

What do enzymes usually end in?

ASE

What are enzymes named after?

The substrate- protease is a protein enzyme- lactase breaks down lactose

What can enzymes do?

Break things apart or put them together

What are enzymes important?

They make chemical reactions go on in cells. Without them, our chemical reactions in our body would be too slow

What temperature do enzymes work best?

Body temperature- 98.6

Active site

Area on the enzymes that fits the substrate molecule

Why can an enzyme on catalyze one kind of substrate?

Enzymes have a definite shape and they can only fit substrates that have the shape that matches the shape of the enzyme.

What is the model used to describe and enzyme and substrate union?

Lock and key model

Enzyme-substrate complex

The temporary union between the substrate and enzyme

What does enzyme action depend on?

Random motion of molecules which brings substrates into contact with the enzymes

What happens to the motion of molecules at high temperatures? How does this affect enzyme action? (Not high enough temperatures to denature enzyme)

Molecules move faster at high temperatures, causing enzymes action to rise.

What happens to enzymes at low temperatures?

Enzyme action decreases because the rate that enzyme-substrate complexes form decreases