Carbon and the Molecular Diversity of Life

Importance of Carbon

• Organic chemistry: branch of chemistry that specializes in study of carbon compounds
• Organic compounds: contain Carbon (& H)
• Major elements of life: C, H, N, O, P, S
• Carbon can form large, complex, and diverse molecules

Diversity of Carbon

1. It has 4 valence electrons (tetravalence)

2. It can form up to 4 covalent bonds

   1. Most frequent bonding partners: H, O, N

3. Bonds can be single, double, or triple covalent bonds.

4. Carbon can form large molecules

   1. 4 classes of macromolecules: carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, nucleic acids

5. Molecules can be chains, ring-shaped, or branched

6. Forms isomers

   1. Isomers: molecules have same molecular formula, but differ in atom arrangement

      1. Different structures 🡪 Different properties/functions

Functional Groups

• Behavior of organic molecules depends on functional groups
• Most common functional groups:
  • Hydroxyl
  • Carbonyl
  • Carboxyl
  • Amino
  • Sulfhydryl
  • Phosphate
  • Methyl