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Carbon and the Molecular Diversity of Life (Carbon atoms can form diverse…
Carbon and the Molecular Diversity of Life
Water is the universal medium for life on Earth, but living organisms, such as the plants and Roosevelt elk, are made up of chemical based mostly on the element carbon.
Carbon atoms can form diverse molecules by bonding to four other atoms
The key to an atom's chemical characteristics is its electron con figuration
The formation of Bonds with Carbon
Carbon has 6 electrons, with 2 in the first electron shell and 4 in the second shell; thus, it has 4 valence lectrons in a shell that holds 8 electrons.
Molecular Diversity Arising from Carbon Skeleton Variation
Carbon chains form the skeletons of most organic molecules.
Hydrocarbons
Organic molecules consisting of only carbon and hydrogen.
isomers
Compounds that have the same numbers of atoms of the same elements but different structures and hence different properties.
Structural Isomers: differ in the covalent arrangements of their atoms.
Cis-trans isomers: Crabons have covalent bonds to the same atoms, but these atoms differ in their spatial arrangements due to the inflexibility of double bonds.
Enantiomers: Are isomers that are mirror images of each other and that differ in shape due to the presence of an asymmetic carbon, one that is attached to four different atoms or groups of atoms.
A few chemigal groups are key to the functiong of biological molecules
The distinctive properties of an organic molecule depend not only on the arrangement of its carbon skelelton but also on the chemical groups attached to that skeleton.
The chemical Groups Most Important in the Processes of life
The chemical groups affect molecular function by being directly involved in chemical reactions; these important chemical groups are known as finctional groups.
Atp: An important source of energy for cellular Processes
A more complicated organic phosphate, Adenosine triphoshpate, or ATP, is worth mentioning here because its function in the cell is so important.
The chemical elements of life: A review
Living maters consists mainly of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen, with smaller amouts of sulfur and phosphorus.
Organic chemistry in the study of carbon compounds
The branch of chemistry that specializes in the study of carbon compound is called organic chemistry
Organic molecules and the origin of life on earth
The pioneers of organic chemistry helped shift the mainstream of biological thought from vitalism to mechanism, the noomena, including the processes of life.