The Chemistry of Life:

Organic Compounds
 Carbon Atoms

• form four covalent bonds

• single, double, or triple
• straight or branched chains
• rings
• bond with many different elements
 Organic Molecules
• Chains
 Organic Molecules
• Double bonds
 Organic Molecules
• Branched chains
 Organic Molecules
• Rings
Fig. 3-1, p. 46
 Ethane Propane
(a) Chains

1-Butene 2-Butene Cyclopentane Benzene

(b) Double bonds (d) Rings

Isobutane Isopentane Histidine (an amino acid)

(c) Branched chains (e) Joined rings and chains

Fig. 3-1, p. 46
 KEY CONCEPTS

• Carbon atoms join with one another or

other atoms to form large molecules with a
wide variety of shapes
 Isomers
• Structural isomers
• different covalent arrangements

Ethanol (C2H6O) Dimethyl ether (C2H6O)

(a) Structural isomers. Structural isomers differ in
the covalent arrangement of their atoms.
 Isomers
• Geometric isomers (cis–trans isomers)
• different spatial arrangements

trans-2-butene cis-2-butene
(b) Geometric isomers. Geometric, or cis–trans,
isomers have identical covalent bonds but differ in
the order in which groups are arranged in space.
 Isomers
• Enantiomers
• mirror images

(c) Enantiomers. Enantiomers are isomers that are

mirror images of one another. The central carbon is
asymmetrical because it is bonded to four different
groups. Because of their 3-D structure, the two
figures cannot be superimposed no matter how
they are rotated.
 Hydrocarbons

• Organic compounds
• carbon and hydrogen only
• nonpolar
• hydrophobic
• Methyl group
 Polar and Ionic
Functional Groups

• Partial charges on atoms

• at opposite ends of a bond
• interact with one another
• hydrophilic
• Hydroxyl and carbonyl groups
 Acidic and Basic Groups
• Acidic
• release hydrogen ions
• become negatively charged
• carboxyl and phosphate groups
• Basic
• accepts a hydrogen ion
• become positively charged
• amino group
 Functional Groups
• Polar (hydroxyl)

• Acidic (carboxyl)

• Basic (amino)
Table 3-1a, p. 49
Table 3-1b, p. 49
 KEY CONCEPTS

• Hydrocarbons
• nonpolar and hydrophobic
• Properties depend on functional groups:
• hydroxyl and carbonyl groups (polar)
• carboxyl and phosphate groups (acidic)
• amino groups (basic)
 Polymers and Macromolecules

• Polymers
• long chains of monomers
• linked through condensation reactions
• Macromolecules
• large polymers
• polysaccharides, proteins, and DNA
• broken down by hydrolysis reactions
Condensation and Hydrolysis
 Condensation
Enzyme A
HO OH HO OH HO O OH + H2O
Hydrolysis
Monomer Monomer Dimer
Enzyme B

Fig. 3-5, p. 50
 Carbohydrates
• Ratio
• 1carbon: 2 hydrogen: 1 oxygen
• Monosaccharide
• simple sugar
• glucose, fructose, ribose
• Disaccharide
• 2 monosaccharides
• joined by glycosidic linkage
• maltose, sucrose
Monosaccharides
Fig. 3-6, p. 51
 Glyceraldehyde (C3H6O3) Dihydroxyacetone (C3H6O3)
(an aldehyde) (a ketone)

(a) Triose sugars (3-carbon sugars)

Fig. 3-6, p. 51
 Ribose (C5H10O5) Deoxyribose (C5H10O4)
(the sugar component of RNA) (the sugar component of DNA)

(b) Pentose sugars (5-carbon sugars)

Fig. 3-6, p. 51
 Glucose (C6H12O6) Fructose (C6H12O6) Galactose (C6H12O6)
(an aldehyde) (a ketone) (an aldehyde)

(c) Hexose sugars (6-carbon sugars)

Fig. 3-6, p. 51
Disaccharides
 Glycosidic linkage

Enzyme

Maltose Glucose Glucose

C12H22O11 C6H12O6 C6H12O6
(a) Maltose may be broken down (as during digestion) to form two molecules of
glucose.The glycosidic linkage is broken in a hydrolysis reaction, which requires the
addition of water.

Enzyme

Sucrose Glucose Fructose

C12H22O11 C6H12O6 C6H12O6
(b) Sucrose can be hydrolyzed to yield a molecule of glucose and a molecule of fructose.

Fig. 3-8, p. 53
Fig. 3-8, p. 53
 Glycosidic linkage

Enzyme

Maltose Glucose Glucose

C12H22O11 C6H12O6 C6H12O6
(a) Maltose may be broken down (as during digestion) to form two molecules of
glucose.The glycosidic linkage is broken in a hydrolysis reaction, which requires the
addition of water.

Enzyme

Sucrose Glucose Fructose

C12H22O11 C6H12O6 C6H12O6
(b) Sucrose can be hydrolyzed to yield a molecule of glucose and a molecule of fructose.

Fig. 3-8, p. 53
 Polysaccharides
• Long chains
• repeating units of simple sugar
• Storage polysaccharides
• starch in plants
• glycogen in animals
• Structural polysaccharide
• cellulose, cell walls of plants
 Polysaccharides
• Starch
Starch

Fig. 3-9b, p. 54
(c) Starch consists of highly branched chains;
the arrows indicate the branch points. Each
chain is actually a coil or helix, stabilized by
hydrogen bonds between the hydroxyl groups
of the glucose subunits.
Fig. 3-9c, p. 54
 KEY CONCEPTS

• Carbohydrates are composed of sugar

subunits (monosaccharides), which can be
joined to form disaccharides, storage
polysaccharides, and structural
polysaccharides
Animation: Structure of Starch
and Cellulose

CLICK
TO PLAY
 Lipids

• Mainly hydrocarbon-containing regions

• few oxygens (polar or ionic groups)
• Greasy or oily consistency
• relatively insoluble in water
 Fats
• Triacylglycerol
• main storage fat
• glycerol + 3 fatty acids
• Monoacylglycerols & diacylglycerols
• 1 or 2 fatty acids
• saturated or unsaturated fatty acid
• hydrogens
Triacylglycerol
Ester linkage

A triacylglycerol

Fig. 3-12b, p. 56
 Phospholipids

• Structure
• glycerol
• 2 fatty acids
• phosphate group
• Function
• cell membrane component
Phospholipid
 Phosphate
group
Choline Glycerol Fatty acids

Water

Hydrophilic Hydrophobic
head tail
Fig. 3-13, p. 58
 Steroids
• Carbon atoms arranged in 4 rings
• cholesterol, bile salts, some hormones
 KEY CONCEPTS

• Lipids store energy (triacylglycerol) and

are the main structural components of cell
membranes (phospholipids)
 Proteins

• Polypeptides
• long, linear polymers
• 20 amino acids (monomers)
• joined by peptide bonds
• Many functions
• enzymes
• structural components
• cell regulators
Peptide Bonds
 Carboxyl Amino
R group group group R group Peptide bond

Glycine Alanine Glycylalanine (a dipeptide)

Fig. 3-18, p. 63
 Amino Acids
• Amino group and carboxyl group
• Side chains
• determine chemical properties
• nonpolar, polar, acidic, or basic
• Dipolar ions at cell pH
• important biological buffers
Dipolar Ions
Ionized form

Fig. 3-17, p. 63
 Primary Structure
• Linear sequence of amino acids in
polypeptide chain
 Secondary Structure
• Regular conformation
• α -helix or β-pleated sheet
• hydrogen bonds between amino acids
 KEY:
Carbon atom
Oxygen atom
Nitrogen atom
Hydrogen bonds Hydrogen atom
hold helix coils R group
in shape

(a) In an -helix the R groups project out from the sides. (The
R groups have been omitted in the simplified diagram at left.)

Fig. 3-20a, p. 64
 Tertiary Structure
• Overall shape
of polypeptide
chain
• chemical
interactions
of side chains
 Hydrogen Ionic bond
bond

Hydrophobic
Disulfide bond interaction

(a) Hydrogen bonds, ionic bonds, hydrophobic interactions,

and disulfide bridges between R groups hold the parts of
the molecule in the designated shape. Fig. 3-21a, p. 65
 Quaternary
Structure
• 2 or more
polypeptide
chains
 Beta chain
Heme (-globin) Alpha chain
(-globin)

Alpha chain Beta chain

(-globin) (-globin)

(a) Hemoglobin, a globular protein, consists

of four polypeptide chains, each joined to an
iron-containing molecule, a heme. Fig. 3-22a, p. 66
 Beta chain
(β-globin) Alpha chain
Heme (α-globin)

Stepped Art
Alpha chain Beta chain
(α-globin) (β-globin) Fig. 3-22a, p. 66
 KEY CONCEPTS

• Proteins have multiple levels of structure

and are composed of amino acid subunits
joined by peptide bonds
 Nucleotides

• Nitrogenous base
• 2-ring purine or 1-ring pyrimidine
• Five-carbon sugar
• ribose or deoxyribose
• One or more phosphate groups
Purines and
Pyrimidines
Fig. 3-23a, p. 68
 Cytosine (C) Thymine (T) Uracil (U)

(a) Pyrimidines. The three major pyrimidine bases found in

nucleotides are cytosine, thymine (in DNA only), and uracil
(in RNA only).

Fig. 3-23a, p. 68
Fig. 3-23b, p. 68
 Adenine (A) Guanine (G)

(b) Purines. The two major purine bases found in nucleotides

are adenine and guanine.

Fig. 3-23b, p. 68
 Nucleic Acids

• DNA and RNA

• long chains of nucleotides
• Store and transfer information
• sequence of amino acids in proteins
• structure and function of the organism
Nucleic Acid
• RNA
 Nucleotide
Ribose
Uracil

Ribose Adenine

Phosphodiester
linkage

Ribose Cytosine

Ribose Guanine

Fig. 3-24, p. 68
 Nucleotides

• ATP (adenosine triphosphate)

• essential in energy metabolism
• NAD+
• electron acceptor in biological oxidation and
reduction reactions
 Nucleotide
• cAMP
Cyclic AMP
Fig. 3-25, p. 70
 KEY CONCEPTS

• Nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) are

informational molecules composed of long
chains of nucleotide subunits. ATP and
some other nucleotides have a central role
in energy metabolism