InorganicChemistry

Threemostcommonelementsoflifearecarbon,hydrogen,andoxygen

Otherelementsneededbylivingorganismsinclude
nitrogen,sulfur,phosphorus,iron,calcium,sodiumandpotassium

C,O,H,andNmakeup96%oflivingmatter

Water
WatermoleculesarecomposedoftwoHbondedtoanO(h20)

ShapedlikeaVelectronsspendmoretimearoundtheOthantheH

Oregionhasaslightly()charge,Hregionhasaslightly(+)chargePolar
molecule

Ocharge
H+charge

Watermoleculesareattractedtoeachotherforminghydrogenbonds

HydrogenBonding

Watermoleculesareattractedtoeachotherbecauseofpolarity

hydrogenbondsformwhenahydrogenatomcovalentlybondedtoone
electronegativeatomisattractedtoanotherelectronegativeatom

Usuallyoccurbetweenoxygenornitrogenatomsinlivingcells


WhyisWatersoImportanttoLife?

Alllifeisdependentonwater(6070%ofalllivingtissueiswater)

Manyofwatersuniquepropertiesareduetohydrogenbonding

Waterisanexcellentsolventbecauseofpolaritydissolvesawidevariety
ofsubstances

hydrophilicIoniccompoundsandpolarmoleculesdissolveeasilyinwater

hydrophobicUnchargedandnonpolarmoleculesdonotdissolveinwater

Watermoderatestheeffectsoftemperature
waterdoesnotchangetemperatureeasily

1.Waterhashighspecificheatmuchheatenergyhastobeaddedtogetwater
toheatup(tobreakHbonds)

2.Waterhashighheatofvaporizationmuchenergyisneededtochangeliquid
watertowatervapor(becauseofHbonds)goodforcooling

3.Waterhashighheatoffusionmuchenergyhastoberemovedtogetwater
tocooldown

Solidwater(ice)islessdensethanliquidwatergoodforaquaticlife

Watermoleculestendtosticktogetherhigh

cohesionandadhesion
water

moleculestendtosticktoeachotherandothersubstance(importantfor
watertransportinplants)

BiologicallyImportantWeakBonds

1. Hydrogenbondspropertiesofwater,DNA,proteinstructure

2. VanderWaalsinteractionsoccurbtwelectricallyneutralmoleculesthat
areextremelyclosecausingtheirouterelectronstobeginasynchronous
motiontoavoideachother
normalrepulsionbtwelectronsislessenedandmoleculesareweakly
bonded(imptforenzymereactions)

3. Hydrophobic/Hydrophilicinteractions(helpholdcellmembranes
together)

=OrganicChemistry

Organicmoleculesthathaveacarbonskeletonandalsocontainsome
hydrogenatoms

Carbonisversatilebecausecanformmanybondsallowingforvastarrayof
organicmolecules

Functionalgroupsgroupsofatomsattachedtothecarbonbackbonethat
determinethecharacteristicsandchemicalreactivityofthemolecule

Organicmoleculesaresynthesizedby
linkingsmallorganicmoleculesubunits(monomers)
togethertoformalongchaincalledapolymer

Monomersarelinkedtogetherbya
condensationreaction(dehydrationsynthesis)

Monomersarebrokenapartbyhydrolysisawatermoleculeisaddedtothe
reactionandbrokenaparttoseparatemonomers

Carbohydrates

Composedofcarbon,hydrogen,andoxygen(CH2O)n

Importantsourceofenergy

Importantstructuralsupportforsinglecells,plants,fungi,bacteria,andinsects

SimpleSugarsmonosaccharides

Composedof3to7carbonatomscircleupintoaringwhendissolvedin
water

Glucose(C6H12O6)mostcommonmonosaccharideinlivingorganisms

Bodysmainsourceofenergy

Othermonosaccharidesincludefructose,galactose,ribose,anddeoxyribose

DisaccharidesandPolysaccharides

Disaccharidestwosinglesugarslinkedtogether(examples:maltose,sucrose,
lactose)

Polysaccharideslongchainsofsinglesugars

Starchlongtermenergy(glucose)storageforplants

Glycogenenergystorage(glucose)foranimals

Cellulosestructuralsupportforplants(makesupcellwalls)


a.Highlyinsoluble
b.Bondsbtwglucoseunitsarelinkagesinsteadoflinkages
c.Animalscannotdigestcellulose

Lipids

Containcarbon,hydrogen,andoxygenandmaycontainphosphorusand
nitrogenhighlyinsoluble(hydrophobic)

Functions:

1. Energystoragemolecules

2. Provideinsulation

3. Formswaterproofcovering

4. Makeupthebulkofcellmembranes

5. Actashormones

Threetypesoflipids
Oils,fatsandwaxes

Containonlycarbon,hydrogen,andoxygen

Containglycerolbondedto3fattyacidsubunits

1.Phospholipids

Similartooilexceptonefattyacidisreplacedwithapolarphosphategroup
primarycomponentofcellmembranes

Steroids
Structurallydifferentfromotherlipids

Composedof4ringsofcarbonfusedtogetherwithvariousfunctional
groups

Proteins
Moleculescomposedofoneormorechainsofaminoacids

Functionsofproteins:

1. Structure(skin,hair,nails,horns)
2. Movement(muscles)
3. Defense(antibodies)
4. Storageofenergyandmaterials(albuminineggwhites)
5. Transport(hemoglobintocarryO2)
6. Signals/hormones(neurotransmitters,proteinhormones)

AminoAcids

Buildingblocksofproteins

20differentkindsallhavethesamefundamentalstructure,differbasedonR
group

Rgroupgiveseachaminoaciditsdistinctiveproperties(size,watersolubility,
electricalcharge)

CysteinehassulfurinitsRgroupcausingittoformbondswithothercysteines
formingdisulfidebridges

Aminoacidsarelinkedtogetherbycondensationreactionsl inkingtheamino
group(NH2)ofoneaminoacidtothecarboxylgroup(COOH)ofthenext
formingapeptidebond

Polypeptidesvaryinlengthbetween3aminoacidstothousandsofaminoacids

Proteinshavefourlevelsofstructure

1. Primarystructurespecificsequenceofaminoacidscodedforbythe
DNA(differentproteinshavedifferentsequences
2. Secondarystructurehydrogenbondscauseproteinchainstocoilorfold
(helixorpleatedsheetarecommonstructures)

3. Tertiarystructuresecondarystructurefoldsintoacomplex,3Dspecific
shape
Causedby:
Disulfidebridgesbetweencysteines
Cellularenvironmentwhetherproteinisdissolvedin
waterofcytoplasmorinlipidsofmembrane
(hydrophobic/hydrophilicinteractionsofaminoacids)

4. Quaternarystructureproteinsthatconsistof2ormoreindependent
polypeptidechainsheldtogetherbyhydrogenbonds(ex.Hemoglobin)

THESHAPEOFAPROTEINALLOWSITTOPERFORM
ITSFUNCTION

Exacttype,positionandnumberofaminoacidswithspecificRgroups
determinesboththestructure(shape)oftheproteinanditsbiological
function
Iftheshapeischanged,theproteinwillNOLONGERfunctionthe
sameway
Denaturedproteinshavelostmostoftheirsecondary,tertiary,and
quaternarystructure(THESHAPEHASCHANGEDproteinwillnolonger
functionthesameway)
1.Causes:

Conjugatedproteins

Extremesintemperature(over60oC)
ExtremesinpH
Excessiveradiation
ElectricitY
Certainchemicals

Proteinsthathaveanonproteinaceousprostheticgroupattachedex.
Hemoglobin
containsironwhichaltersthepropertiesoftheprotein(increasesaffinityfor
O2)

NucleicAcids

Longchainsofsimilarbutnotidenticalsubunitscallednucleotides
Makeupthehereditaryinformation(genes)

Nucleotideshaveathreepartstructure:
1. Afivecarbonsugar(riboseordeoxyribose)
2. Aphosphategroup
3. Anitrogencontainingbase

Therearetwotypesofnucleotides

Ribosenucleotides(containthesugar,ribose)

bondtofourtypesofnitrogenbases:adenine,guanine,cytosine,and
uracil

Deoxyribosenucleotides(containthesugar,deoxyribose)
bondtoadenine,guanine,cytosine,andthymine

Nitrogenbasesaredividedintotwogroups

1. Purinesdoubleringstructure(adenineandguanine)
2. Pyrimidinessingleringstructure(thymine,cytosine,and
uracil)

Nucleotidesarestrungtogetherinlongchainstoformnucleicacids

Phosphategroupofonenucleotidecovalentlybondstothesugarofthe
next

TwotypesofNucleicAcids

DeoxyribonucleicAcid(DNA)
Doublehelix

Deoxyribosesugar
ContainsA,C,T,andG(AT,CG)
Makesupchromosomesofalllivingthings
Sequenceofnucleotidesspellsoutinformationtoconstructproteins

RibonucleicAcid(RNA)
Singlehelix
Ribosesugar
ContainsA,C,U,andG(AU,CG)
RNAsarecopiesofDNAcarriesmessagetocelltodirectsynthesisof
proteins

Nucleotideshavemanyfunctionsnotallarepartofnucleicacids
Mayexistsinglyoroccuraspartsofothermolecules
Someactasintracellularmessengerstocarryinformationfromcell
membranetoothermoleculesincellex.cyclicAMP
Somenucleotideshaveextraphosphatesgroupsex.Adenosine
triphosphate(ATP),Adenosinediphosphate(ADP)

 Unstablemoleculesthatcarryenergyfromplacetoplacepickupenergy
whereitisproduced(cellularrespiration)andgiveupenergytodrive
energydemandingreactionselsewhere

Certainnucleotidesassistenzymeintheirroleofpromotingchemicalrxns
coenzymesusuallyconsistofanucleotidecombinedwithavitamin