UNIVERSIDAD DEL VALLLE

CIENCIAS NATURALES Y EXACTAS

DEPARTAMENTO DE QUÍMICA
INTRODUCCIÓN A LA QUÍMICA BIOINORGÁNICA

Profesora: Esperanza Galarza

BIOCHEMISTRY AND INORGANIC CHEMISTRY

INTRODUCTION

1. Why do biochemical reactions occur essentially in an aqueous medium? What physicochemical

properties make water the ideal medium for life?

AMINOACIDS AND PROTEINS

2. How do you explain that a protein can fold and acquire a relatively stable three-dimensional structure
if the bonds between its amino acids are simple bonds that allow a very high freedom of rotation? In
other words, name some aspects that make the protein not a simple linear polymer but a molecule
with high structural complexity.

3. How do you explain that two proteins or two peptides have exactly the same amino acid composition
but have different biological activity?

NUCLEIC ACIDS

4. Make a detailed table with some similarities and differences (chemical structure and function)
between nucleotides and amino acids, and between proteins and DNA.

5. Show and explain the most notable differences between RNA and DNA in terms of their structure and
function.

INORGANIC

6. What are the factors that influence the classification of a species as soft or hard (Pearson's theory)?
Explain

7. How do you explain that complexes with multidentate ligands have greater stability than those with
monodentate ligands?

8. Which of the two bond theories presented, best explains the formation of coordination compounds?