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

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

  2. Carbon can form large molecules

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

  1. Molecules can be chains, ring-shaped, or branched
  2. 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