Biomolecules

Biomolecules are the organic compounds which form the basis

of life, i.e., they build up the living system and responsible for
their growth and maintenance.
The sequence that relates biomolecules to living organism is

Biomolecules → Organelles → Cells → Tissues → Organs →

Living organism.

Biomolecules are molecules that occur naturally in living

organisms. are essential to one or more typically biological
processes, such as morphogenesis, or development and cell
division,

Biomolecules consists mainly of carbon and hydrogen with

nitrogen, oxygen, sulphur, and phosphorus.
.
• Biomolecules are very large molecules of many
atoms, which are covalently bound together.

• There are four major classes of biomolecules:

• i. Carbohydrates
• ii. Lipids
• iii. Proteins
• iv. Nucleic acids
• Enzymes and Vitamins included here.
• Carbohydrates are hydrates of carbon; technically they are
polyhydroxy aldehydes and ketones.
• - Carbohydrates are also known as saccharides, the word
saccharide comes from Greek word sakkron which means sweet.
• Green plants and microbes synthesize carbohydrates from carbon
dioxide and water by the process of photosynthesis.

• Classification and nomenclature of carbohydrates

• The carbohydrates are divided into three major classes depending

upon whether or not they undergo hydrolysis and if they do, on
the number of products formed.
• 1 Monosaccharides ex: glucose, fructose
• 2. Oligosaccharides ex: sucrose, lactose
• 3. Polysaccharides ex: glycogen, starch, inulin.
• Monosaccharides: The monosaccharides are
polyhydroxy aldehydes or polyhydroxy ketones
which cannot be decomposed by hydrolysis to
give simpler carbohydrates.
• e.g. Glucose, fructose, Galactose etc.
Monosaccharides sub-divided into trioses,
tetroses, pentoses, hexoses and heptoses
depending on the number of carbon atoms
they possess;
• into aldoses and pentoses depending on
whether they contain aldehyde or ketonic
group
Glucose (aldose) and Fructose (ketose) have the same molecular formula,
C6H12O6, however the difference between them is the arrangement of the
atoms involved. That is they are structurally different and hence called,
Structural Isomers.
Epimers : Monosaccharides differing in configuration at a
carbon other than anomeric carbon are called epimers, e.g.,
glucose and galactose differ in configuration at C4, hence
called epimers, while mannose differs at position C2.
Of these pentoses and hexoses exist in both open and closed
chain forms.
Carbohydrates are straight chain carbon atoms but transform into cyclic or ring forms
by formation of a hemiacetal bond between the –CHO(aldehyde group) or the =CO (
keto ) and the OH group of either the 4th or 5 th carbon atom. ( the alcohol and
aldehyde are on the same molecule).
The six-membered cyclic form is referred to as pyranose form while the
five-membered cyclic form is called furanose form.

a pyranose is any cyclic isomer that is a six-membered ring system, has a five
carbons and one oxygen. If a hydroxyl at the 5 position of an aldohexose, such
as glucose, forms a hemiacetal with the aldehyde (position 1), the resulting isomer
is glucopyranose.

A furanose is a collective term for carbohydrates that have a chemical structure

that includes a five-membered ring system consisting of four carbon atoms and one
oxygen atom
• Anomers are special cases — they are epimers that differ in
configuration only at the anomeric carbon. For example,
α-D-glucose and β-D-glucose are anomers. The α form has
the anomeric OH group at C-1 on the opposite side of the ring
from the CH2OH group at C-5
• Monosaccaharides are sweet and colorless solids. Readily soluble in
water., char on heating. They are easily oxidized by oxidizing agents
• and are called reducing sugars. This property is the basis for
• Benedicts’s test and Fehling’s test to detect the presence of glucose
in urine. The reducing property is due to the presence of a free
carbonyl group. Fehling’s solution contains cupric sulphate and
sodium carbonate, the sugars reduce cupric sulphate to copper( red
color).
• Monosaccharides contain asymmetric carbon atom (chiral) and exist
in different isomeric forms. (optical isomerism).
• No.of stereoisomers depends on the number of chiral carbon atoms
• in the molecule and the formula is 2n, n= no.of chiral centres. For ex
glucose has four chiral centers so no: of isomers are 16.
• If a plane polarized light is passed through a solution of mono
saccharides, the light is rotated either to the right or left i.e, dextro
or laevo. Changes of optical rotation in solution is called
mutarotation.

• Pentoses: 5 carbon sugars examples are D-ribose, and

2-deoxy-D-ribose, both are components of nucleic acids.
• Glucose occurs freely in nature as well as in the
combined form. It is present in sweet fruits and honey.
Ripe grapes also contain glucose in large amounts.
Glucose is an aldohexose and is also known as
dextrose. It is the monomer of many of the larger
carbohydrates, namely starch, cellulose. It is probably
the most abundant organic compound on earth. Extra
glucose is stored in liver as glycogen. Oxidation of
glucose provides immediate energy requirement of
the cell.
• Fructose is an important ketohexose. It is obtained
along with glucose by the hydrolysis of disaccharide,
sucrose. It is a natural monosaccharide found in fruits
and juices, honey and vegetables. In its pure form it is
used as a sweetner.
• Oligosaccharides: (Oligo=few) usually 2-9 monosaccharide
units.
• Water is eliminated and the monosaccharide units are linked
through an oxo bridge. It is called a glycosidic linkage.

• Disaccharide( two units): Sucrose, Lactose, Maltose,

Cellobiose.

• Sucrose is synthesized in higher plants, a disaccharide of

glucose and fructose; easily soluble in water and is a
non-reducing sugar; forms crystals.

• Maltose and Cellobiose: is a reducing sugar has two units of

glucose, a breakdown product of starch.

• Lactose or milk sugar found in mammals, a disaccharide of

glucose and galactose
• Reducing sugars are sugars where the anomeric carbon has
an OH group attached that can reduce other compounds. All
monosaccharides such as glucose are reducing sugars. A
disaccharide can be a reducing sugar or a non-reducing
sugar. Maltose and lactose are reducing sugars,
while sucrose is a non-reducing sugar.

• Sucrose is A non reducing sugar because the carbon elements

of the aldehyde groups are bonded in what's called a
glycosidic bond , so that it cannot form an open-chain
structure with an available aldehyde group. Moreover,
sucrose contains acetal instead of hemiacetal .
• Trisaccharides (three units) : Raffinose is a
trisaccharide composed of galactose,
• glucose, and fructose. It can be found in beans,
cabbage, brussels, sprouts, broccoli, asparagus,
other vegetables.

• Tetrasaccharides: Stachyose is a tetrasaccharide

consisting of two D-galactose units, one D-glucose
unit, and one D-fructose unit sequentially linked.
• Stachyose is recognized as a major storage and
transport sugar in woody plants,
cucurbits and legumes.
• Polysaccaharides: polymers of high molecular weight with
monosaccharide repeating units.
• Ex: are starch, cellulose and glycogen a few examples.
• Polysaccaharides are tasteless and insoluble in water. These are
called Non-Sugars.
• Starch is a polymer of α D-glucose and is found in potatoes, rice,
wheat etc.

• Starch consists of Amylose and Amylopectin. Amylose is water

soluble and contains 200-1000 glucose units linked in C1-C4
glycosidic linkage. Amylopectin is water insoluble and branched
C1-C4 with branches at C1-C6.

• Glycogen is a reserve carbohydrate in animals and is found in liver

and muscles.

• Cellulose: structural polysaccharide found in plant cell walls contains

only β-D-glucose.
• Mucopolysaccharides: high molecular weight, contain
polysaccharides along with amino sugars and uronic
acids. The Polymer of N-acetyl glucosamine and
D-glucouronic acid, found in bacterial cell walls and in
connective tissue of animals. They help in joint
lubrication, blood coagulation, fertilization, wound
healing, calcification etc in animals.

• Chitin : structural polysaccharide; polymer of

N-acetylglucosamine found as exoskeleton in insects,
fungal cell walls and shell wall of crustaceans.

• Inulin: a polymer of fructose found in tubers of plants.

• Functions of Carbohydrates:
• The four primary functions of carbohydrates in the body are
to provide energy, store energy, build macromolecules, and
spare protein and fat for other uses. Glucose energy is stored
as glycogen, with the majority of it in the muscle and liver.
• Pentose sugars like D-ribose and deoxyribose make up part of
nucleotides and give structural support to the nucleic acids
such as DNA and RNA.
• Hexoses like Glucose is a major respiratory substrate in plants
and animals. It is used in the synthesis of disaccharides and
polysaccharides.
• Galactose a disaccharide is used in the synthesis of lactose
and is found in glycolipids of brain.
• Fructose : ketose sugar, used in the synthesis of inulin,
constituent of nectar, sweetens fruits.
• Disaccharides like sucrose and maltose are
respiratory substrates, sucrose is stored in
plants. Lactose is a major carbohydrate source
for young ones.
• Polysaccharides like starch is a major storage
carbohydrate in plants while glycogen is stored
in animals, cellulose gives structural support to
cell walls.
• Cellulose is an important raw material for
textiles, paper, breweries.
• Several materials are obtained from cellulose:
• 1. Mercerised cotton: Cellulose treated with conc.
sodium hydroxide solution acquire silky lustre. It is
called mercerised cotton.
• 2. Gun cotton It is completely nitrated cellulose
(cellulose nitrate), highly explosive in nature and is
used in the manufacture of smokeless gun powder,
called blasting gelatin.
• 3. Cellulose acetate: It is used for making acetate
rayon and motion picture films.
• 4. Cellulose xanthate: It is obtained by treating
cellulose with sodium hydroxide and carbon
disulphide and is the basic material for VISCOSE
rayon.
• Lipids
• ->are composed of long hydrocarbon chains. Lipids are composed
of C, H and oxygen atoms, oxygen atoms are less than carbon.
• They have high energy value(calorific value is 9.3 kCal of
heat is produced by 1 gm fat) and are energy storage molecules.
• As they have more carbon atoms and less oxygen and require
more oxygen for oxidation, and release more energy when
compared to carbohydrates.
• are esters of fatty acids and are building blocks of biological
membranes.
• - Most of the lipids have a polar head ( interacts with water) and
non-polar tail.
• In plants lipids occur in seeds, nuts and fruits, and in animals they
are found in adipose tissue, bone marrow, and nervous tissue.
• Cooking oil, butter, ghee, waxes, natural rubber and cholesterol
are lipids.
• Fats are esters of glycerol and fatty acids or
triglycerides of fatty acids as 3 molecules of fatty
acids condense with one molecule of glycerol to
form fat. Fatty acids general formula is
• CH3 (CH2)n COOH.
• Ex: 3 molecules of palmitic acid on condensation
with one molecule of glycerol yields tripalmitin.
• Simple glycerides contain one type of fatty acids.
Mixed glycerides contain two or three types of
fatty acids.
• simple triglyceride : all three fatty acids in a
triglyceride are same
• mixed triglyceride : when all three fatty acids are
not identical
• Fatty Acids
• A lipid is an organic compound such as fat or
oil. Organisms use lipids to store energy, but
lipids have other important roles as well. Lipids
consist of repeating units called fatty acids.
Fatty acids are organic compounds that
have the general formulaCH3(CH2)nCOOH
where n usually ranges from 2 to 28 and is
always an even number. There are two
types of fatty acids: saturated fatty acids
and unsaturated fatty acids
• Saturated fatty acids: do not contain double bond
• Depending on the number of carbon atoms fatty acids have
different names . For ex. Palmitic acid has 16 C atoms, Stearic
acid has 16 while lauric acid has 12. In animal fats, palmitic and
stearic acids: most abundant.
• Common saturated fatty acids CH3-(CH2)nCOOH. When n = 4
caproic acid; n = 6 caprylic acid; n = 8 capric acid, n = 10 lauric
acid n = 12 myristic acid; n = 14 palmitic acid, n = 16 stearic acid.

• In saturated fatty acids, carbon atoms are bonded to as many

hydrogen atoms as possible. This causes the molecules to form
straight chains, the straight chains can be packed together very
tightly, allowing them to store energy in a compact form. This
explains why saturated fatty acids are solids at room
temperature.
• Animals use saturated fatty acids to store energy.

• .
• Unsaturated fatty acids: have double bonds and have
lower melting points than the saturated fatty acids. Ex:
Linoleic acid, linolenic acid and arachdonic acid
commonly found in animal and plant fats

• In unsaturated fatty acids, some carbon atoms are not

bonded to as many hydrogen atoms as possible due to
the presence of one or more double bonds in the
carbon chain. Instead, they are bonded to other
groups of atoms. Wherever carbon binds with these
other groups of atoms, it causes chains to bend. The
bent chains cannot be packed together very tightly, so
unsaturated fatty acids are liquids at room
temperature. Plants use unsaturated fatty acids to
store energy.
•
• 1. Simple lipids: are esters of fatty acids with
various alcohols. 3 types are:
• a) Fats: esters of fatty acids with glycerol and
are solids at room temperature. Rich in
saturated fatty acids.
• b) Oils: esters of fatty acids with glycerol, but
are liquid at room temperature , rich in
unsaturated fatty acids.
• c) Waxes: esters of fatty acids other than
glycerol, ex: cetyl alcohol.
•
• Compound lipids: esters of fatty acids with alcohol but also
contain other groups in addition to alcohol.
• 1. Phospholipids: contain fatty acids, glycerol a phosphoric
acid, nitrogenous bases etc. ex: lecithin, cephalin,
plasmalogens.

• There are two common phospholipids: Lecithin contains the

amino alcohol, choline. Cephalins contain the amino alcohols
serine or ethanolamine.
• Sphingomyelin is a type of sphingolipid found in animal cell
membranes, especially in the membranous myelin sheath that
surrounds some nerve cell axons. It usually consists of
phosphocholine and ceramide, or a phosphoethanolamine
head group; therefore, sphingomyelins can also be classified
as sphingophospholipids.
• Phospholipids: Phosphate + glycerol + fatty
acids + a nitrogen containing base.
• Function of phospholipids are
• 1. As emulsifying agents since they carry
hydrophilic polar groups and hydrophobic
non-polar groups.
• 2. They absorb fatty acids from the intestine
and transport to blood cells.
Phospholipid
• 2. Glycolipids: fatty acids with carbohydrates and
nitrogen bases lack phosphoric acid ex:
cerebrosides and gangliosides.
• A cerebroside is a sphingolipid (ceramide)with a
monosaccharide such as glucose or galactose as
polar head group.
• A ganglioside is a ceramide with a polar head group
that is a complex oligosaccharide like sialic acid.
• Glycolipids contain one or more simple sugars and
are important components of cell membranes and
chlorplast membranes.
• Derived lipids: are obtained from simple and compound lipids
by hydrolysis.
• Ex: steroids, terpenes and carotenoids.

• Cholesterol is the most important steroid and is abundant in

nerve tissues, it is a precursor of hormones like testosterone,
progesterone, estradiol and also of bile salts and Vitamin D3
etc. Main source of cholesterol is fish liver oil.
• In plants, sterols are called phytosterols and example is
stigmasterol present in soyabean.
• In Fungi, ergosterol is present in plasma membrane.
• Human liver makes cholesterol needed for our body ; it is
present in animal membranes and absent in prokaryotes, it is
a key regulator of membrane fluidity.
The structure of cholesterol is a fully saturated ring
system called cyclopentanoperhydrophenanthrene or
sterane.
Carotenoids are found in plants. They are isoprene units with
high degree of unsaturation ; due to the presence of many
double bonds they are colored red or yellow. Carotenoids are
usually red, orange, or yellow pigments, and include the
familiar compound carotene, which gives carrots their color.

• .
• Properties of lipids: they are colorless, odorless, sparingly
soluble in water and soluble in organic solvents like
chloroform, ether, acetone.
• Their specific gravity is less than 1.0 and float on water
surface. High insulating power, and are bad conductors of
heat. A layer of fat below the skin acts as blanket for warm
blooded animals. The melting point of fats depends on the
chain length of the fatty acids and degree of unsaturation;
melting point decreases with increase in unsaturation
• Fats can be hydrolysed by alkali and this is called
saponification, which results in the formation of glycerol and
salts of fatty acids which are called soaps.
• Vegetable ghee is obtained by hydrogenation of liquid fats or
oils in the presence of nickel.
• Fats when exposed to light, air or heat for long periods turn
rancid (spoiled).
Saponification of fats
Hydrogenation of oils
• Function of lipids:
• Fats are storage products of plants and animals, in animals
stored in adipose tissue.
• Phospholipids, glycolipids, lipoproteins, and sterols serve as
structural components of cell membranes. Cholesterol is the
most important sterol in animals and is a part of animal cell
mebranes.
• Heat insulation : fats deposited beneath the skin minimize
loss of body heat. The myelin sheath of nerve fibres contains
lipids which act as electrical insulators. Fats deposited around
organs protect from mechanical shock.
• Phospholipids play an important role in the absorption &
transportation of fatty acids.
• The sex hormones and vitamin D are all synthesized from
cholesterol. Lipids are carriers of fat soluble vitamins such as
A, D and E.
• Lipids and Diet
• Unsaturated fat is generally considered to be healthier because it
contains fewer calories than an equivalent amount of saturated fat.
Additionally, high consumption of saturated fats is linked to an
increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Some examples of foods
with high concentrations of saturated fats include butter, cheese,
lard, and some fatty meats. Foods with higher concentrations of
unsaturated fats include nuts, avocado, and vegetable oils such as
canola oil and olive oil.

• Humans need lipids for many vital functions, such as storing energy
and forming cell membranes. Lipids can also supply cells with
energy. In fact, a gram of lipids supplies more than twice as much
energy as a gram of carbohydrates or proteins. Lipids are necessary
in the diet for most of these functions. Although the human body
can manufacture most of the lipids it needs, there are others,
called essential fatty acids, that must be consumed in food.
Essential fatty acids include omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Both
of these fatty acids are needed for important biological processes,
not just for energy.
• Although some lipids in the diet are essential,
excess dietary lipids can be harmful. Because
lipids are very high in energy, eating too many
may lead to unhealthy weight gain. A high-fat
diet may also increase lipid levels in the blood.
This, in turn, can increase the risk for health
problems such as cardiovascular disease. The
dietary lipids of most concern are saturated
fatty acids, trans fats, and cholesterol. For
example, cholesterol is the lipid mainly
responsible for narrowing arteries and causing
the disease atherosclerosis.
• Types of Lipids
• Lipids may consist of fatty acids alone, or they may contain
other molecules as well. For example, some lipids contain
alcohol or phosphate groups. They include
• triglycerides: the main form of stored energy in animals.
• phospholipids: the major components of cell membranes.
• steroids: serve as chemical messengers and have other roles.
• Triglycerides
• One type of lipid is called a triglyceride, an ester derived from
glycerol combined with three fatty acid molecules.
• Glycerol is a triol, an alcohol which contains three
hydroxyl functional groups. A fatty acid is a long
carbon chain, generally from 12 to 24 carbons in
length, with an attached carboxyl group. Each of the
three fatty acid molecules undergoes an esterification
with one of the hydroxyl groups of the glycerol
molecule. The result is a large triester molecule
referred to as a triglyceride.
•
Triglycerides function as a long-term storage form of
energy in the human bodies. Because of the long
carbon chains, triglycerides are nearly nonpolar
molecules and thus do not dissolve readily in polar
solvents such as water. Instead, oils and fats are
soluble in nonpolar organic solvents such as hexane
and ethers.