BIOMOLECULES ⭐

NUCLEIC ACIDS: are responsible for the storage and expression of genetic information

PROTEINS: have multiple functions including acting as catalysts as well as a defense, storage, strucutre and transport molecule

CARBOHYDRATES: include both sugars and polymers of sugars

LIPIDS: a biomolecule that is soluble in nonpolar solvents

Carbohydrates are composed of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen

Nucleic Acids are composed of polynucleotides which are polymers. Each polynucleotide consists of a monomer called a nucleotide

Proteins are composed of amino acids, which are the monomers of Proteins

Carbohydrates can be composed of monosaccharides, disaccharides, and polysaccharides

Lipids are composed of a glycerol molecule with three fatty acid (a carboxylic acid with a long aliphatic chain, which is either saturated or unsaturated) molecules attached to it

Nucleotide Polymers are made through a linkage of nucleotides due to dehydration reaction. Adjacent nucleotides are joined by a phosphodiester linkage which consists of a phosphate group that covalently links the sugars of two nucleotides

The hydrophobic behavior of lipids is mainly due to their molecular structure. While they do have polar bonds with oxygen, lipids consist mostly of hydrocarbon regions.

Amino Acid Polymers (Polypeptides) are formed when two amino acids are positioned so that the carboxyl group of one is adjacent to to the amino group of another. They are then connected through dehydration reaction. The resulting covalent bond is called a peptide bond

Examples:

  • Glucose (mono): a simple sugar that provides energy to living organisms
  • Cellulose (poly): tough walls of plant cells

Examples:

  • Enzymes: a protein produced by a living organism which acts as a catalyst to bring about a specific biochemical reaction

Examples:

  • DNA: genetic material that consists of the sugar doexyribose
  • RNA: act as a messenger carrying instructions from DNA for controlling the synthesis of proteins

Examples:

  • Waxes and certain pigments
  • Fat: constructed from glycerol and three fatty acids through an ester linkage-carboxyl/hydroxyl group bond
  • Steroids: carbon skeleton consisting of four fused rings
  • Phospholipids: similar to a fat molecule but only consists of two fatty acids

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Monosaccharide: single sugar
Disaccharide: two monosaccharides joined by a glycosidic linkage
Polysaccharide: macromolecules which are polymers with a few hundred to a few thousand monosaccharides

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There are two kinds of Fats:

  • Saturdated: when there are no double bonds between carbon atoms and as many hydrogen atoms as possible are bonded to the carbon skeleton
  • Unsaturated: when there is one or more double bond, with one fewer hydrogen atom on each double-bonded carbon

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Chemical Groups Important to Life:

  • Hydroxyl
  • Carbonyl
  • Carboxyl
  • Amino
  • Sulfhydryl
  • Phosphate
  • Methyl
  • All these functional groups play an important role in the formation of Lipids, Proteins, Carbohydrates, and Nucleic Acids

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Molecular Diversity:

  • Isomers: variation in architecture of atoms (compounds with same number of atoms of the same element but different structures)
  • Structural Isomers: different in covalent arrangements of atoms
  • Cis-trans Isomers: carbons have covalent bonds to the same atoms, but those atoms have different spatial arrangements due to the inflexibility to double bonds
  • Enantiomers: isomers that are mirror images of each other but differ in shapes due to asymmetric carbons