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Introduction to Biomolecules
A living organism is a collection of organic molecules.
Carbohydrates: Classification
Carohydrates can be classified based on their behaviour during hydrolysis. These broad
groups include monosaccharides, oligosaccharides and polysaccharides.
Monosaccharides can be classified based on the number of carbons and the functional
group present.
Glucose can form open-chain and two cyclic ring structures, called pyranoses.
The cyclic structure is attributed to the formation of hemiacetal from the reaction
between the aldehydlic group and the C-5 hydroxyl group in the same molecule. The
cyclic structure thus formed is a six-membered ring.
The cyclic structure is obtained when the hydroxyl group at C 5 gets added to the
carbonyl group at C 2. The cyclic structure thus obtained is a five-membered ring.
Cyclic ring structures with five-membered rings are called furanoses.
Carbohydrates: Disaccharides
• The hydrolysis of sucrose produces a mixture that is laevorotatory. A change in the sigh
of optical rotation from dextrorotatory to laevorotatory that takes place during the
process of hydrolysis is called the inversion of sugar.
Maltose is made from two glucose units, while lactose is made from galactose and
glucose.
Proteins are polymers of α-amino acids. Naturally occurring proteins are made from L –
amino acids only.
Amino acids contain an-NH2 group and a –COOH group, with a side chain, all attached
to the α-carbon.
Amino acids can be classified as acidic, basic or neutral on the basis of their nature.
The high melting points and solubility of most of the amino acids is due to their dipolar
ion structure.
Proteins are polymers of α-amino acids that are linked by peptide bonds.
Vitamins
Vitamins are necessary part of our diet, and deficiencies lead to specific diseases.
Vitamins A, D, E and K are fat soluble vitamins. Vitamin C an B group vitamins are
water soluble vitamins.
Vitamin A deficiency leads to xeropthalmia.
Vitamin E deficiency leads to fragile red blood cells and muscular weakness.
Nucleic Acids
Nucleic acids are the biomolecules present in all living cells, and are responsible for
transmitting genetic information from one generation to the next.
The basic components of nucleic acids include a pentose sugar, a phosphate group and
nitrogen bases.
The nitrogenous bases in DNA are adenine, guanine, cytosine and thymine. RNA use
uracil in place of thymine.
The double helix structure of DNA is held together by A-T and C-G base pairing.