Lesson: 2.

2 Carbon based molecules Week 6

One of the most important elements in living things is carbon

Carbon is the element of life because carbon atoms are the basis of biomolecules, or molecules that
make up living things

Carbon based materials are used for technical applications

Carbon based compounds compose all living things

Carbon is divided into 4 group: carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and nucleic acid

Organic compounds are called macromolecules because of their large size

Atomic structure of carbon gives it unique bonding properties which allow it to form covalent bonds that
share pairs of electrons

Carbon has 4 available electrons to share with atoms of other elements to form covalent bonds

Carbon is mostly bonded to hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and phosphorus

Carbon atoms can form double, or triple bonds

Double bonds are represented with 2 bars, and triple bonds are represented with 3 bars

In acetylene each carbon forms 1 triple and 1 single bond

Carbon dioxide is odorless, while acetylene has a slight odor similar to garlic so, both have different
densities

Carbon can bend with itself or with other atoms, bonding help carbon enable to form ring or a long
chain structure

Polymer: large molecule made of subunits called monomers

Monomers in a polymer can be same or different

Carbon atoms often bind to hydrogen atoms

Hydrocarbons: Carbon compounds contain only carbon and hydrogen

Covalent bonds in hydrocarbons store great amount of energy

Molecules that share same chemical formula but differ in placement, structure, atoms, or chemical
bonds are known as isomers

Isomers have different physical and chemical properties because atoms are connected in different ways

Isomers allow for greater variety of organic compounds with different properties

Carbohydrates: composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen

Basic carbohydrates are simple sugars or monosaccharide

Simple sugars bind together to make larger carbohydrates called polysaccharides

Polysaccharide with 2 sugars joined together is called a disaccharide

Carbohydrate molecules that body breaks down to release usable energy

Simple carbohydrates can be quickly broken down and absorbed by body, unlike complex carbohydrates
are broken slowly

Lipids are similar to carbohydrates in containing same elements but unlike carbohydrates lipids are
nonpolar molecules

Most lipids are insoluble in water because water molecules are polar

Lipids include phospholipids and steroids

Phospholipids are important for cell membrane structure

Waxes from protective coatings, and steroids act as chemical messengers

Simple lipids are fatty acids; complex lipids contain several fatty acids linked together

Fatty acids consist of long chain hydrocarbons containing 2 oxygen atoms at one end, and they are
distinguished from one another by chain length and number of hydrogen atoms connected to carbon
atom

Fats and lipids serve important roles in maintaining overall health; fats are major source of energy and
are needed to build and repair cell membrane and are essential part of myelin sheath that surrounds
and protects nerves

Phospholipid: lipid consists of glycerol, 2 fatty acid, and phosphate group

Head of phospholipid is made up of the glycerol backbone, and tails are made of fatty acids

Polar head of phospholipid is soluble in water or hydrophilic, and nonpolar tails are insoluble in water or
hydrophobic

Cell membranes are made of double layer of phospholipids

Polar heads face outside of membrane, and nonpolar tails face inside of membrane

Molecules need to pass through membrane are polar nonpolar tails of phospholipids repel them

Proteins in membrane create passageways to allow polar and nonpolar molecules to pass

Waxes are distinguished from other lipids by long carbon chains that are hydrophobic; they resist water
and are solid at range temperatures

Waxes form protective coatings for living things

Lipids have a mostly linear structure

Steroids are class of lipid that has fused ring structure

Steroids are class of lipid has fused ring structure; they have 4 linked carbon rings and many have short
tail, and contain hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions they’re insoluble in water

Proteins: building blocks of life

Many proteins function as enzymes which regulate chemical reactions within bodies

Amino acids: building blocks for proteins

Organisms use only 20 amino acids to build proteins, and bodies can make 12 of those amino acids

Sequence of amino acids determines a protein’s structure and function

Proteins have levels of structure: primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary

Primary structure of protein is sequence of amino acids in polypeptide

Secondary structure is hydrogen bonds between amino acids cause chain to fold into zig zag shaped
sheets

Tertiary structure is 3D shape of protein

Quaternary structure is proteins that contain multiple polypeptide chains, or subunits combined
together

Enzymes and proteins are sensitive to environmental changes; denaturation process occurs when PH or
temperature exceed normal ranges for cell shape of protein changes

Denaturation does not affect secondary, tertiary, or quaternary structures; protein sequence is stable

Sequence of amino acids in protein is determined by sequence of monomers in another biological

polymer “nucleic acid”

Nucleic acid polymers are made of monomers called nucleotides

Nucleotides is composed of sugar, phosphate, group, and nitrogen containing molecule or base

Sugar and phosphate nucleotides form backbone of DNA double helix

Nitrogenous bases form matching pairs held together by hydrogen bonds

DNA and RNA are types of nucleic acid