8 Organic compounds

Organic Compounds

• Organic compounds contain carbon.

• Key types: polysaccharides, proteins, lipids, nucleic acids (DNA & RNA).

Polymer Breakdown

• Polymers must be broken down into monomers to enter the bloodstream.

• Monomers: the smallest building blocks (e.g., simple sugars, amino acids, fatty acids, nucleotides).

• Need to digest larger compounds (catabolism) to obtain monomers.

Carbohydrates

• Monosaccharides: Simple sugars (e.g., glucose).

• Disaccharides: Composed of two monosaccharides (e.g., sucrose, lactose, maltose).

• Polysaccharides: Chains of glucose (e.g., amylose, amylopectin, glycogen).

  • Glycogen: Storage compound for glucose in muscles & liver.

  • Enzymes for breakdown: amylase (amylose), lactase (lactose), maltase (maltose).

Metabolism

• Hydrolysis: Breaking down large compounds into smaller ones (catabolism).

• Dehydration Synthesis: Building larger compounds from smaller ones.

Proteins

• Proteins are used for structural, contractile, and functional roles (e.g., enzymes, hormones).

• Not primarily an energy source.

• Amino acids are building blocks: contain a carbon, amine group, carboxyl group.

• Formation of peptides via dehydration synthesis (peptide bond formation).

Protein Structure

• Primary Structure: Sequence of amino acids.

• Secondary Structure: Alpha helix or beta pleated sheet, held by hydrogen bonds.

• Tertiary Structure: Overall 3D shape of a polypeptide.

• Quaternary Structure: Interaction of multiple polypeptides.

• Denaturation affects protein shape, impacting function (e.g., hydrogen bonds broken).

Lipids

• Long term energy storage, includes triglycerides, phospholipids, and steroids.

• Triglycerides: Consist of glycerol and three fatty acids.

• Phospholipids: Important for cell membranes.

• Saturated vs. Unsaturated: Based on presence of double bonds in fatty acids.