Chemistry:

Carbon Compounds

Carbon

• Organic chemistry is the study of all compounds containing bonds between carbon atoms

• Carbon atoms have 4 valence electrons = each electron can join with other electrons from a different atom to form a strong covalent bond (up to four bonds available)

• Carbon can bond to hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, sulfur, and nitrogen. Can also bond to other carbon atoms = can form chains almost unlimited in length

Macromolecules

• “Giant molecules” – many molecules in living things are macromolecules – made up of thousands or more smaller molecules (monomers)

• Formed by polymerization – large compounds built by joining smaller compounds together. Smaller units called monomers when joined together called polymers

Monomers to Polymers

• Think of monomers as individual puzzle pieces that are put together to make the entire puzzle. The polymer is the entire puzzle (made up of the smaller monomer pieces).

Monomer (puzzle piece)

Polymer (puzzle/picture)

Groups of Macromolecules

• Four groups of macromolecules– Carbohydrates– Lipids– Proteins– Nucleic Acids

Carbohydrates

• Compounds made up of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms usually in a ratio of 1C:2H:1O

• Serve as a main source of energy – plants and some animals also use carbohydrates for structural purposes

• Breakdown of sugars = energy for cells

• Store sugars as starches

Carbohydrates (continued)

• Single sugar = monosaccharides• Ex. Glucose, galactose (in milk), fructose (sugar

in fruits)• Double sugar = disaccharides• Ex. Lactose (in milk), sucrose (table sugar, high

fructose corn syrup (chemically treating sugars extracted from corn)

Carbohydrates (continued)

• Monosaccharides build together to form polysaccharides• Ex. Glycogen, cellulose (in plants), starch

Starch

Glucose

Lipids

• Not soluble in water and made mostly from carbon and hydrogen atoms

• Fats, oils, waxes, steroids• Used to store energy; form parts of

biological membranes and waterproof coverings

• Formed when a glycerol molecule combines with compounds called fatty acids

Types of Fats

• Unsaturated = One carbon-carbon double bond in a fatty acid – usually liquid at room temperatures (Ex. Olive Oil)

• Saturated = each carbon atom in a lipid’s fatty acid chain is joined to another carbon atom by a single bond – contains maximum possible hydrogen atoms (Ex. Cream, cheese, butter)

• Polyunsaturated = more than one double bond (Ex. Corn oil, peanut oil, sesame oil, fish oil)

What Type of Fat is This?

Important – this lipid drawing will be revisited when cell membrane is discussed!

Steroids

• A common steroid is cholesterol – not always bad – forms “base steroid” for sex hormones

• Anabolic steroids – controversial drugs made from synthetic testosterone – can be used to treat cancer, AIDS

Proteins• Contain nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen• Polymer made from monomers of amino acids – compounds with an

amino group (-NH2) on one end and a carboxyl group (-COOH) on the other end

• Proteins are the most diverse macromolecules due to the 20 different amino acids available

• Where amino acids join together by covalent bonds they are identical = can join to any other amino group

• Portion of each amino acid that is different is a side chain called the R-group

General structure Alanine Serine

Carboxyl group

Proteins (continued)

• Instructions for arranging amino acids into different proteins is stored in the DNA

• Each protein has a specific role – rate of reactions, regulate cell processes, form bones and muscles, transport substances, fight disease

• 4 levels of organization within a protein:– 1st level – sequence of amino acids– 2nd level – twisted or folded amino acid chain– 3rd level – chain itself is folded– 4th level – if more than one chain, specific rearrangement of them

Aminoacids

Nucleic Acid

• Contain hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, and phosphorus

• Polymers assembled from individual monomers known as nucleotides.

• Nucleotides consist of 3 parts:– 5 carbon sugar– Phosphate group– Nitrogeneous base

• Store and transmit hereditary (genetic) information

Types of Nucleic Acids

– RNA – ribonucleic acid containing ribose sugar

– DNA – deoxyribonucleic acid containing deoxyribose sugar

CarbonCompounds

include

that consist of

which contain

that consist of that consist of that consist of

which contain which contain which contain

Carbohydrates Lipids Nucleic acids Proteins

Sugars and starches

Fats and oils Nucleotides Amino Acids

Carbon,hydrogen,

oxygen

Carbon,hydrogen,

oxygen

Carbon,hydrogen,oxygen, nitrogen,

phosphorus

Carbon,hydrogen,oxygen,

nitrogen,

Carbon Compounds Summary Chart