Important organic chemical FUNCTIONAL GROUPS found in biological molecules (R = any organic group) This page is for reference.

Learn these only as they are discussed in class. They should be memorized so we can talk about them easily. NAME
hydroxyl: aldehyde: detail:

GROUP
-OH -CHO O || -C-H -COOH

CHEMICAL EXAMPLE
ethanol: CH3-CH2-OH acetaldehyde: CH3-CHO

COMMENT
polar polar

BIOLOGICAL EXAMPLE
sugars (e.g., fructose) glucose

carboxylic acid: detail:

acetic acid: CH3-COOH

-

charged (ionized)

fatty acid (e.g., oleate)

O O O <---> || || <---> || -C-O -C-OH -C-O -NH2 (-NH3+) -COO || -C-O-COOR O || -C-O-R -CONH2 O || -C-NH2 -SH -S-S2-mercaptoethanol: HO-CH2-CH2-SH R-S-S-R reducing agent protein (cysteine) crosslinks in proteins protein (cystine) acetamide: CH3-CONH2 polar, not charged proteins (e.g., asparagine) ethyl ether: CH3-CH2-O-CH2-CH3 methyl ester of acetic acid: CH3-CO-OCH3 not so polar (symmetric) polar. not charged some lipids fats (e.g., triglycerides) acetone: CH3-CO-CH3 polar metabolic intermediate (e.g., pyruvic acid) methyl amine: CH3-NH2 charged (ionized) amino acid (e.g., glycine)

amine: detail: ketone: detail:

ether: ester: detail:

amide: detail:

sulfhydryl: disulfide:

phenyl:

phenol: C6H5-OH, -OH

hydrophobic

proteins (phenylalanine)

anhydride

O O|| | -C-O-P=O
|

3-phosphogyceric acid: HOCH-CHOH-CO-OP03--

2 acids joined

intermediary metabolites

O-N-C-NH2 H || NH2+
+

guanidino

arginine: H3N-CH-CH2-CH2-CH2-NH-C-NH2 | || COONH2+

charged

proteins (arginine)