Biotechnology

Bioenergetics

Juan Pablo Palma y Karen Pacheco

2022-05-22

Problem 1
Electron transfer in the mitochondrial respiratory chain may be represented by the net reaction equation:

1
NADH + H+ + O2 ⇌ NAD+H2O
2

a) Calculate ∆E′◦ for the net reaction of mitochondrialelectron transfer.

b) Calculate ∆G′R◦ for this reaction.

c) How many ATP molecules can theoretically be generated by this reaction if the free energy of ATP
synthesis under cellular conditions is 52 kJ/mol?

Solution

First we must find the reaction from the formation reactions, in this case, we will have the following formation,
based on the table Standard reduction potential extracted from Lehninger, Albert L., David L. Nelson, and
Michael M. Cox. Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry. Worth Publishers, 6 th ed. 2013.

1
[1] O2 + 2H+ + 2e− −→ H2O E′◦[V ] = 0.816
2
[2] NADH −→ NAD+ + H+ + 2e− E′◦[V ] = −0.320

1
NADH + H+ + O2 ⇌ NAD+H2O
2

a) Now we can calculate the value of the standard reduction potential determine the electrodonor and
the electroacceptor, in this case the reaction [2] and use the following equation:

∆E ′◦ = Ee′ lectronacceptor − Ee′ lectrondonor

E_donor <- -0.320 # V

E_acceptor <- 0.816# V DE <- E_acceptor - E_donor print(paste("DE [V] = ", DE))

1
 Figure 1: Table 1. Standard reduction potential

## [1] "DE [V] = 1.136"

b) To calculate the value of ∆GR′◦ we use the next equation:

∆G′R◦ = −n 𭟋∆E ′◦

Knowing that n = 2 because the reaction [2] is donating 2 electrons.

n <- 2 # mol
Faraday <- 96480 # J/V*mol # J
DG <- (-n*Faraday*DE)/1000 print(paste("DG [kJ] = ", DG))

## [1] "DG [kJ] = -219.20256"

c) If a molecule of ATP is produced at cellular conditions with an energy of 52 kJ/mol and knowing
the value of the energy released from the reaction, we can find the value of the ATP produced in the
reaction using the following equation:

∆G′◦
ATPproduced = R
.
.EnergyfromAT P
E_ATP <- 52 # kJ/mol
ATP_prod <- abs(DG/E_ATP)
print(paste("mol of ATP produced in the reaction = ", ATP_prod))

## [1] "mol of ATP produced in the reaction = 4.21543384615385"