• Karl Lohmann (1929) discovered ATP in muscle cells.

Fritz
Lipmann and Herman Kalckar (1941) were the first to recognize
the role of ATP in energy metabolism.
 Life processes require a constant supply of energy.
 Cells use energy that is stored in the bonds of
certain organic molecules.
 Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is a molecule that
transfers energy from the breakdown of food
molecules to cell processes. ATP is a special carrier
of free energy that occurs in the protoplasm in free
state.
 Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is the most important
biological molecule that supplies energy to the cell.
 A molecule of ATP is composed of three parts bonded
together by “high energy” bonds:
1. A nitrogenous base (adenine)
2. A sugar (ribose)
3. Three phosphate groups (triphosphate) linked by a
phosphoester bond.
 5

Adenine Ribose 3 Phosphate groups

 The active form of ATP is usually a complex
of ATP with Mg2+ or Mn2+.

 When ATP is hydrolyzed a large amount of

free energy is liberated which is utilized in
various energy-requiring processes of the
organisms. Hence, ATP is popularly known as
energy currency or energy tablet of cells.
 The energy stored in ATP is released when a phosphate group
is removed from the molecule.
 ATP has three phosphate groups, but the bond holding the
third phosphate groups is very easily broken.
 When the phosphate is removed, ATP becomes ADP—
adenosine diphosphate
 A phosphate is released into the cytoplasm and energy is
released.
 ADP is a lower energy molecule than ATP, but can be
converted to ATP by the addition of a phosphate group.
 ATP → ADP + phosphate + energy available for cell processes
 ADP is continually converted to ATP by the addition of
a phosphate during the process of cellular respiration.
 ATP carries much more energy than ADP.
 As the cell requires more energy, it uses energy from
the breakdown of food molecules to attach a free
phosphate group to an ADP molecule in order to make
ATP.
ADP + phosphate + energy from breakdown of food
molecules→ ATP
 ATP is consumed in the cell by energy-requiring
processes and can be generated by energy-releasing
processes.
 In this way ATP transfers energy between separate
biochemical reactions in the cell.
 ATP is the main energy source for the majority of
cellular functions.
 This includes the production of organic molecules,
including DNA , and proteins.
 ATP also plays a critical role in the transport of organic
molecules across cell membranes, for example during
exocytosis and endocytosis
 Exergonic(energy-yielding)
 Produces ATP
 Ex. Cellular respiration
 Endergonic (energy-requiring) reactions
 Requires ATP
 Ex. Photosynthesis
ATP ADP

Main energy source for the cell Contains Less energy

Contains 3 phosphate groups Contains 2 phosphate groups

(triphosphate) (diphosphate)