1.

3 Lipid
Learning outcomes:
At the end of the lesson, students should be
able to:
1. State the types of lipids: triglyceride (fat and oil),
phospholipids and steroids
2. Describe the structure of fatty acids and glycerols
3. Explain the formation and breakdown of
triglycerides

2
 1.3 Lipid
 Built up from the carbon, hydrogen and oxygen
but proportion of oxygen is lower than
carbohydrates
 Large biological molecule that does not consist
of polymers but it is called macromolecule.
 Hydrophobic compounds that insoluble in
water but soluble in organic solvents (eg:
acetone, benzene and chloroform)
3
 Types of Lipid

The 3 types of lipid are :

a. Triglyceride ( fat and oil)
c. Phospholipids
d. Steroids

4
 Triglycerides
eg: Fats & Oils

3
MAJOR
TYPES OF Phospholipids
LIPIDS eg: Lecithin

Steroids
eg: Cholesterol
& Testosterone
5
1. Triglyceride
• Triglyceride is lipid
consist of three
molecule of fatty acid
link to one glycerol
molecule by ester bond.

• TWO types of
triglyceride is fat and oil.
 Characteristic
Fats vsofoils
Fat and Oil

• Lipids that are in the solid Fat

state at room temperature

are known as fats.

• Those that exist in the

liquid state at room Oil

temperature are known as

oils.

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Fig. 5-13

2. Phospholipids
Choline
Phospholipids has two
fatty acid molecule link
Hydrophilic head

Phosphate with glycerol and one

phosphate group link at
Glycerol
third hydroxyl group.
Hydrophobic tails

Fatty acids

Hydrophilic
head

Hydrophobic
tails

(a) Structural formula (b) Space-filling model (c) Phospholipid symbol

Fig. 5-14

Hydrophilic WATER
head

Hydrophobic
WATER
tail

Figure : Structure of phospholipid bilayer

 3. Steroids Side chain

four carbon
ring

• Steroids has organic

compound with four fused
rings of carbon skeleton.
• A side chain of steroid may
have a variable length.
• Example : cholesterol &
testosterone

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 Structure of Fatty acids
Fatty acids are long, unbranched chains of
hydrocarbon (-CH2) with a carboxyl group
(-COOH) at the end of each chain.
This giving the molecule its acidic properties.

Carboxyl
group

Figure: Structure of saturated fatty acid 11

 Structure of Fatty acids

• Fatty acid are amphiphilic compound.

• Because the carboxyl group is hydrophilic
• But, the hydrocarbon tail is hydrophobic.

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 Types of fatty acid

Fatty acid can be classify into :

a. Saturated
b. Unsaturated

13
 Differences between saturated and unsaturated
fatty acids
Saturated fatty Unsaturated fatty acids
acids

1. Have only single bonds in 1. Have one or more double

the hydrocarbon chain. bond (-C=C-)

• Monounsaturated
(1 double bond)

• Polyunsaturated
(more than one double
bond) 14
 Saturated fatty
acids
2.Triglycerides containing
saturated fatty acids
tend to be solid at room
temperature
• (e.g. stearic acid/palmitic
acid)
Unsaturated fatty
acids
2. Triglycerides
containing unsaturated
fatty acids tend to be
liquid at room
temperature
• (e.g. oleic acid)
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16
 Structure of Glycerol

 A glycerol is an alcohol with three carbon

atoms and three hydroxyl groups(-OH)
 Molecular formula C3H8O3
 Can form ester bond with the
carboxyl groups (-COOH)
of fatty acids.

Figure: glycerol
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Formation of Triglycerides (triacylglycerol)

A triglyceride is formed when one molecule of

glycerol joined by ester bond with another
three fatty acid through condensation
process.
The process is also known as esterification
process.

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Fig. 5-11

Fatty acid
(palmitic acid)

Glycerol
(a) Condensation reaction in the synthesis of a fat

Ester bond
linkage

(b) Fat molecule (triglycerides)

Components of a triglyceride

H O

H C OH HO C R1

O
H C OH HO C R2

O
H C OH
HO C R3
H

1 Glycerol 3 fatty acids

A triglyceride molecule

H O

H C O C R1
O

H C O C R2
O

H C O C R3

H ester bond
 Breakdown of Triglycerides (triacylglycerol)
 The breakdown of triglyceride is called
hydrolysis reaction.
 In this process, triglycerides is broken down into
1 glycerol and 3 fatty acids with addition of
3 water molecule.

1 glycerol 3 fatty acid 22

Triglycerides
 3 FATTY ACIDS ESTER BOND

+ 3 H20

1 GLYCEROL 23