WATER: Molecule That Supports All of Life

 Water is the biological medium here on Earth

All living organisms require water more than any other substance.

 Water is the predominant chemical component of living organisms. Its unique

physical properties, which include the ability to solvate a wide range of organic
and inorganic molecules, derive from water’s dipolar structure and exceptional
capacity for forming hydrogen bonds. The manner in which water interacts with
a solvated biomolecule influences the structure both of the biomolecule and of
water itself.

 Regulation of water balance depends upon hypothalamic mechanisms that

control thirst, on antidiuretic hormone (ADH), on retention or excretion of
water by the kidneys, and on evaporative loss.

 Nephrogenic diabetes insipidus, which involves the inability to concentrate

urine or adjust to subtle changes in extracellular fluid osmolarity, results from
the unresponsiveness of renal tubular osmoreceptors to ADH.
 WATER IS AN IDEAL BIOLOGIC SOLVENT

• The polarity of water molecules

– Allows them to form hydrogen bonds with each
other
– Contributes to the various properties water
exhibits
–
Hydroge
+ n
H bonds
+ – H
– +
+ –

Figure 3.2
 Four emergent properties of water contribute
to Earth’s fitness for life
• Water molecules exhibit cohesion
• Cohesion
– Is the bonding of a high percentage of the
molecules to neighboring molecules
– Is due to hydrogen bonding
 Water Molecules Form Hydrogen Bonds
A partially unshielded hydrogen nucleus covalently bound to an electron withdrawing
oxygen or nitrogen atom can interact with an unshared electron pair on another
oxygen or nitrogen atom to form a hydrogen bond.

Since water molecules contain both of these features, hydrogen bonding favors the self-
association of water molecules into ordered arrays.

Hydrogen bonding profoundly influences the physical properties of water and accounts
for its relatively high viscosity, surface tension, and boiling point. On average, each
molecule in liquid water associates through hydrogen bonds with 3.5 others.

These bonds are both relatively weak and transient, with a half-life of a few
picoseconds. Rupture of a hydrogen bond in liquid water requires only about
4.5kcal/mol, less than 5% of the energy required to rupture a covalent O—H
bond.
 Cohesion
– Helps pull water up through the microscopic
vessels of plants

Water conducting cells

Figure 3.3 100 µm

 Surface tension
– Is a measure of how hard it is to break the
surface of a liquid
– Is related to cohesion
Moderation of Temperature
Water moderates air temperature
By absorbing heat from air that is warmer and
releasing the stored heat to air that is cooler

Water’s High Specific Heat

• The specific heat of a substance

– Is the amount of heat that must be absorbed or lost for
1 gram of that substance to change its temperature by
1ºC
 Water has a high specific heat, which allows
it to minimize temperature fluctuations to
within limits that permit life
– Heat is absorbed when hydrogen bonds
break
– Heat is released when hydrogen bonds form
Evaporative Cooling

 Evaporation
– Is the transformation of a substance from a
liquid to a gas

• Heat of vaporization
– Is the quantity of heat a liquid must absorb
for 1 gram of it to be converted from a liquid
to a gas
 Evaporative cooling
– Is due to water’s high heat of vaporization
– Allows water to cool a surface

Insulation of Bodies of Water by Floating Ice

• Solid water, or ice

– Is less dense than liquid water
– Floats in liquid water
• The hydrogen bonds in ice
– Are more “ordered” than in liquid water, making
ice less dense

Hydrogen
bond
Ice Liquid water
Figure 3.5 Hydrogen bonds are stable Hydrogen bonds
constantly break and re-form
The Solvent of Life
 Water is a versatile solvent due to its polarity
 It can form aqueous solutions

• Water is a versatile solvent due to its polarity

• It can form aqueous solutions
 The different regions of the polar water
molecule can interact with ionic compounds
called solutes and dissolve them
Negative
oxygen regions
–
of polar water molecules
Na+
are attracted to sodium
+ –
+
cations (Na+). +
– –
Positive
hydrogen regions
Na +
–
of water molecules + +
–
cling to chloride anions Cl– Cl
(Cl–). –
+ –

+ –

+ –
–

Figure 3.6
 Water can also interact with polar molecules such as
proteins

This oxygen is
attracted to a
slight positive
–
charge on the
+ lysozyme
This oxygen ismolecule.
attracted to a slight
negative charge on the lysozyme
molecule.
(a) Lysozyme molecule (b) Lysozyme molecule (purple) (c) Ionic and polar regions on the protein’s
in a nonaqueous in an aqueous environment Surface attract water molecules.
Figure 3.7 environment such as tears or saliva
Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic Substances
 A hydrophilic substance
– Has an affinity for water

• A hydrophobic substance
– Does not have an affinity for water
 Acids and Bases

An acid
– Is any substance that increases the
hydrogen ion concentration of a solution
A base
– Is any substance that reduces the hydrogen
ion concentration of a solution
 pH
The pH of a solution
Is determined by the relative concentration of
hydrogen ions
Is low in an acid
Is high in a base
The pH scale and pH values of various aqueous
solutions

pH Scale
0
1 Battery acid

Increasingly Acidic
2 Digestive (stomach)

[H+] > [OH–]

juice, lemon juice
3 Vinegar, beer, wine,
cola
4 Tomato juice

5 Black coffee
Rainwater
6 Urine
Neutral Pure water
7
[H+] = [OH–] Human blood
8
Seawater
Increasingly Basic

9
[H+] < [OH–]

10
Milk of magnesia
11 Household ammonia
12
Household bleach
13
Oven cleaner
Figure 3.8 14
Buffers
Are substances that minimize changes in the
concentrations of hydrogen and hydroxide ions in a
solution

Consist of an acid-base pair that reversibly

combines with hydrogen ions
 Changes in pH Solutions of weak acids or bases and their
conjugates exhibit buffering, the ability to resist a change in
pH following addition of strong acid or base. Many
metabolic reactions are accompanied by the release or
uptake of protons.
 Oxidative metabolism produces CO2 , the anhydride of
carbonic acid, which if not buffered would produce severe
acidosis.
 Biologic maintenance of a constant pH involves buffering by
phosphate, bicarbonate, and proteins, which accept or
release protons to resist a change in pH.
Buffering can be observed by using a pH meter while
titrating a weak acid or base (Figure 2–5). We can also
calculate the pH shift that accompanies addition of acid or
base to a buffered solution.

In the example below, the buffered solution (a weak acid,

pKa = 5.0, and its conjugate base) is initially at one of four
pH values. We will calculate the pH shift that results when
0.1 meq of KOH is added to 1 meq of each solution:

ph 1.pdf
Acid Strength Depends on Molecular Structure
Many acids of biologic interest possess more than one
dissociating group. The presence of local negative
charge hinders proton release from nearby acidic
groups, raising their pKa . This is illustrated by the pKa
values of the three dissociating groups of phosphoric
acid and citric acid (Table 2–2).

The effect of adjacent charge decreases with distance.

The second pKa for succinic acid, which has two
methylene groups between its carboxyl groups, is 5.6,
whereas the second pKa for glutaric acid, which has
one additional methylene group, is 5.4. TABLE 2–2
Relative Strengths of Monoprotic, Diprotic, and ph 2.pdf
 SUMMARY

Water forms hydrogen-bonded clusters with itself and with other proton donors or acceptors.

Hydrogen bonds account for the surface tension, viscosity, liquid state at room temperature,
and solvent power of water.

Compounds that contain O or N can serve as hydrogen bond donors and/or acceptors.
pH is the negative log of [H+]. A low pH characterizes an acidic solution, and a high pH denotes
a basic solution.

The strength of weak acids is expressed by pKa the negative log of

the acid dissociation constant. Strong acids have low pKa values and
weak acids have high pKa values.

Buffers resist a change in pH when protons are produced or

consumed. Maximum buffering capacity occurs ±1 pH unit on either
side of pKa

• Physiologic buffers include bicarbonate, orthophosphate,

and proteins.