BIOLOGICAL MOLECULES

Carbon and its compound

16 elements are essential for life.
Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen make

up 95% of all living matter. Organic compound carbon Four compound which contains huge number of carbon carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and nucleic acid.

Carbohydrates
Largest compound found in living things

Sugars, starch, glycogen, cellulose

General formula for carbon Cx(H2O)y Monosaccharide, Disaccharides, Polysaccharides

monosaccharides
General formula (CH2O)n

Smallest form of carbohydrates / monomers of carbohydrates

trioses, pentoses hexoses

Soluble in water, sweet

Used in cellular respiration / source of energy Contains a lot of C-H which can produced ATP Produced during photosynthesis

Glucose

Glucose
Molecular fomula C6H12O6 hexose
Aldose sugar More stable in a 5 carbon ring form Oxygen atom attached to C atom no 1 Know as pyranose ring

Fructose

Fructose
Molecular formula C6H12O6
Ketose sugar More stable in a 4 carbon ring form Oxygen atom from carbon no 5 attached to

carbon no 2 known as furanose ring

Galactose

Galactose
known as milk sugar
Also found in peas An aldose and reducing sugar

Disaccharides
Made up of two monosaccharides
Process where two molecules of

monosaccharides are combined to form a disaccharides condensation (between 2 hydroxyl group) Process where a molecules of disaccharide is broken into its component hydrolysis Sucrose, maltose, lactose

Sucrose
Sucrose is a disaccharide consisting of glucose and fructose connected together with an (14) glycosidic bond Sucrose is also known as white or table sugar and is produced from sugar beets or sugar cane. While it is present in malt in small

amounts Sucrose is a non reducing sugar which means it won't take part in Benedicts reactions.

Maltose
Maltose consist of 2 glucose molecules linked.
In maltose they are linked with an (14) link

Least common disaccharide in nature

Present in germinating grain (malt) Reducing sugar

lactose
Lactose, also known as milk sugar
Occurs in the milk of mammals (4%-6%) In human milk (5%-8%) Lactose consists of galactose and glucose

connected/ linked together with a (14) link. An aldose and reducing sugar By product in cheese manufacturing

Polysaccharides
Built from many monosaccharides linked by glycosidic bonds
Giant / macromolecule

Starch, Cellulose, Glycogen

Starch
Mixture of many disaccharides / alpha glucose

Two types of starch amylose & amylopectin

Amylose straight chain / Amylopectin

branches Helix form Structure stabilised by numerous hydrogen bonds Major storage of plants Compact and Insoluble

Glycogen
Polymer of alpha glucose
Very similar to amylopectin but have more

branches Energy storage in animal cells granules Converted into glucose when needed

Cellulose
Cellulose is an organic compound with the formula (C6H10O5)n, a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to over ten thousand (14) linked glucose units. Cellulose is the structural component of the primary cell wall of green plants, many forms of algae . Cellulose is the most common organic compound on Earth.

Cellulose
For industrial use, cellulose is mainly obtained from wood pulp and cotton. It is mainly used to produce paperboard and paper; to a

smaller extent it is converted into a wide variety of derivative products such as cellophane and rayon. Converting cellulose from energy crops into biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol is under investigation as an alternative fuel source.

 Some animals, particularly ruminants and termites, can digest cellulose with the help

of symbiotic micro-organisms that live in their guts. Humans can digest cellulose to some extent, however it is often referred to as "dietary fiber" or "roughage" (e.g. outer shell of maize) and acts as a hydrophilic bulking agent for feces.

Lipids
Diverse group of substance
Contain C,H, O with less O in the proportion Insoluble / hydrophobic Can dissolve in organic solvent alcohol,

ether, propanone Occurs naturally animal (fats), plant (oils/waxes), cell membrane (phospholipids), hormones (steroids)

Lipids
Energy reserves because of higher number of C-H
Stored below dermis, and surrounding the

organs Heat insulator

Fats and Oils

Known as triglycerides
Condensation of fatty acids (monocarboxylic

acids) and glycerol (alcohol) 3 fatty acids and 1 glycerol triglycerides Fatty acids long hydrocarbon tail functional group COOH bonds between glycerol and fatty acids ester bond

Phospholipids
Have two ends
One end water soluble, another Lipid

soluble Hydrophilic and hydrophobic Cell membrane structure

Saturated and unsaturated fats

Fats and oils that are saturated have no double bonds between carbon atoms in their hydrocarbon tails. Fats containing several double bonds polyunsaturated
Fats with unsaturated fatty acids melt faster

in low temperature

Proteins
2/3 of the total dry mass of a cell
Differ from carbohydrates and lipids N and

S Monomer amino acids A protein molecule - hundreds / thousands of amino acids

Amino acids
Two functional groups amino and carboxyl
Attached to the same carbon Amino acid is amphoteric both acid and

base Consist of side chain R which varies among them 20 amino acids (essential and non-essential)

 Two amino acids will combine to form dipeptide through condensation

Condensation one loses hydroxyl from

carboxyl gtoup and one loses H atom from amine group Link together by a peptide bond When more than two / many polypeptide Presence of protein biuret tes / millon test

Structure of protein
Primary structure arrangement of the long chain of amino acids
Secondary structure part or the whole chain

of the amino acids taking up a particular shape (beta pleated / alpha helix) due to the attraction between O from CO and H from NH (hydrogen bond)

 Tertiary structure The way in which protein

coils up to form a precise 3-dimensional structure. Made up by more than one, secondary structure in a polypeptide chain Eg: Myoglobin Hold together by hydrogen bonds /disulphide bonds / ionic bonds

 Quarternary structure Proteins that are made up of two or more polypeptide chains.
Eg: Haemoglobin with 4 polypeptide chain

Globular proteins proteins that curl up into s spherical shape

Non polar , hydrophobic R groups point

inwards, polar hydrophilic point outwars Protein that form a long strand - fibrous

Haemoglobin
Globular protein 4 polypeptide chains (two identical pairs) and

Packed closely hydrophobic parts of each chain points inwards while hydrophilic points outwards Hydrophobic R groups inside the molecule holds it in its correct structure (HYDROPHOBIC INTERACTION / VAN DER WAALS) Hydrophilic on the outside - soluble

Haemoglobin
Each polypeptide contains a haem group Fe2+
One oxygen molecule can bind with each iron

One haemoglobin therefore 4 oxygen molecules / 8 oxygen atoms

Combine with oxygen RBC bright red

Collagen(Connective tisuues)
Complex assemblies of triple helical units made up of amino acids
Three helical polypeptides wrapped around

each other Held together by hydrogen bonds Each complete collagen interact with each other forming a cross-link that hold many collagens fibres Able to withstand large pulling force

Water
Most important biochemical compound
Major component of cells (75-90% mass) Medium for biochemical reactions Hydrogen bonding between water molecules

makes them difficult to be separated. Example: More energy is needed to convert water from liquid to gas than in similar compound such as H2S.

Water as a solvent

Water as Transport Medium

Transport medium in the blood, in the lymphatic, excretory and digistive systems of animals. Transport medium in the vascular tissues of plants.

Density and Freezing Properties

Solid form is less dense than liquid form
Floats on liquid water < 4oC Reduces the tendency for large body of water

to freeze completely. Increase survival rate of aquatic organism during cold conditions.

High Surface Tension and Cohesion

High cohesion
Aid the movement of water in vascular

tissues through an unbroken columns. High surface tension, enables certain small organism to skate over its surface (pond skater)