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Lesson Learning Outcome

Upon completion of this lecture, students should be
able to:

 Define lipid
 Know and understand the classes of lipids

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Definition of a Lipid
 Is based on solubility
 Lipids are insoluble in water but readily soluble in
organic solvents such as chloroform or acetone
 You know them as fat
 They stored a lot of energy – good as source of
energy but bad if too much stored

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Three major types of lipids
 Phospholipids – cell membrane
 Steroids
 To create hormones
 Cholesterol is one type of steroids
 Triglycerides
 Liver tries to store excess glucose to glycogen
 When there are excess in glycogen  triglycerides
 Stored in adipose tissue

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Classes of Lipids
All biological lipids are amphipathic

 Fatty acids
 Triacylglycerols
 Glycerophospholipids
 Sphingolipids
 Waxes
 Isoprene-based lipids (including steroids)
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Fatty acids
 Fatty acids are carboxylic acids with long
hydrocarbon chain (10-30; usually 12-18)

 The length of the hydrocarbon chain ranges from

10-30 but usually they are between 12-18

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Fatty acids
Know the common names and structures for fatty
acids up to 20 carbons long
 Saturated
 Lauric acid (12 C)
 Myristic acid (14 C)
 Palmitic acid (16 C)
 Stearic acid (18 C)
 Arachidic acid (20 C)

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Fatty acids
 Unsaturated fatty acids
 Hydrocarbon chain contain at least one double
bonds – making them unsaturated with hydrogen
 The double bonds will produce kinks in the fatty
acids
 Oleic acid
 Linoleic acids
 Arachidonic acids
 Palmitoleic acid

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Fatty acids
 Saturated fatty acids
 Hydrocarbon chain do not contain double bonds –
making them saturated with hydrogen
 Palmitic acid
 Myristic acid
 Stearic acid

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Fatty acids
Structural consequences of unsaturation

 Saturated chains pack tightly and form more

rigid, organized aggregates (i.e.,
membranes)
 Unsaturated chains bend and pack in a less
ordered way, with greater potential for
motion
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Triacylglycerols
Also called triglycerides
 A major energy source for many organisms
 Why?
 Most reduced form of carbon in nature
 Efficient packing

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Triacylglycerols are formed from glycerol and
fatty acids

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Triacylglycerols
 Triacylglycerols do not occur as components of
membranes
 They accumulate in adipose tissue and provide a
means of storing fatty acids in animals
 Other advantages:
 Insulation
 Energy without nitrogen
 Metabolic water

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Triacylglycerols
 When organism uses fatty acids, the ester linkages
of triacylglycerols are hydrolyzed by enzyme called
lipases
 This hydrolysis reaction can also occur outside
organism with acids or bases as catalyst 
saponification
 Products 1: glycerol (glycerin)
 Product 2: Salt of fatty acid (eg sodium salt of fatty acid)

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Phosphoacylglycerol
 Two fatty acids are esterified to the glycerol
molecule + phosphoric acid

G
Fatty acid L
Y
Fatty acid C
E
R
O Phosphoric acid
L

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Phosphoacylglycerol
 Fatty acids are usually monoprotic acids; one carboxyl
group can form an ester bond
 But phosphoric acid is a triprotic acid; can form more
than one ester linkage
 One molecule of phosphoric acid can form ester bonds
both to glycerol and to some other alcohol creating
phosphatidyl ester
 They are classed as phosphoacylglycerols
 They have long nonpolar hydrophobic tails and polar
hydrophilic head groups- amphipathic.
 Important components of biological membranes

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Sphingolipids
 Base structure is sphingosine – do not contain
glycerol
 Sphingosine is an 18-carbon amino alcohol

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Sphingolipids
 The simplest compounds of this class is ceramides
 Consist of one fatty acid linked to the amino group of
sphingosine by amide bond
 Glycosphingolipids are ceramides with one or more sugars
in beta-glycosidic linkage at the 1-hydroxyl group

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Sphingolipids
 Sphingolipids are found in both plants and animals –
particularly abundant in nervous system
 Spingomyelins
 Similar structure to phosphoacylglycerol
 Amphipathic
 Occur in cell membranes in the nervous system

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Waxes
 Complex mixture of esters of long-chain carboxylic acids
(fatty acids) and long-chain alcohol
 Highly insoluble
 Animal skin and fur are wax-coated
 Leaves of many plants
 Bird feathers

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An example of a wax. Oleoyl alcohol is
esterified to stearic acid in this case

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Terpenes
 Based on the isoprene structure
 All sterols (including cholesterol) are terpene-
based molecules
 Steroid hormones are terpene-based

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Steroids
 Based on a core structure consisting of three 6-
membered rings and one 5-membered ring, all
fused together
 Cholesterol is the most common steroid in animals
and precursor for all other steroids in animals
 Precursor of other steroids and vit D3
 Play role in the development of atherosclerosis – lipid
deposit blocks blood vessels
 Steroid hormones serve many functions in animals
- including salt balance, metabolic function and
sexual function
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The structure of cholesterol

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Several important sterols
derived from cholesterol

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 End of topic

Read up your text book from page 201 to 208

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