Organic Chemistry

Organic Compounds - compounds synthesized by cells and contain carbon

Organic compounds are made from a carbon skeleton which can vary in length, be branched or unbranched, have double bonds which vary in location, or may be arranged in rings.

Attached to the carbon skeleton is a FUNCTIONAL GROUP - which is the area that participates in chemical reactions

Functional Group		Name of compounds	Functions
Hydroxyl	-OH	Alcohols	hydrophilic and polar
Carbonyl	-CO	Aldehydes (when the =O occurs at the end of chain) Ketones (when the =O occurs in the middle of chain)	hydrophilic and polar
Carboxyl	-COOH	Carboxylic Acids	act as acids, donate protons
Amino	-NH2	Amines	Act as bases, pick up protons from acids

What type of compounds are the following?

Reaction Types

• Hydrolysis - break down compounds by adding water
• Dehydration - two components brought together, produces H2O
• Endergonic - requires the input of energy
• Exergonic - releases energy
• Redox - electron transfer reactions

MACROMOLECULES important to life

1. Carbohydrates
2. Lipids
3. Proteins
4. Nucleic Acids

1. CARBOHYDRATES

• monosaccharides - simple ring sugars, glucose and fructose
• disaccharides - two monosaccharides combined, sucrose and lactose
• polysaccharides - polymers (long chains of repeating units) of monosaccharides, starch and glycogen

2. Lipids

• Hydrophobic
• waxes, oils, fats, steroids (cholesterol & sex hormones)
• important structural component of the cell membrane (phospholipid)
• Saturated fats contain no double bonds

*Saturated fats solidy at room temperature, unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature

3. Proteins

• Polymers made of amino acids
• Amino acids are joined by peptide bonds
• Amino acids form a wide variety of structures, building blocks for living tissue
• The chain of amino acids coil into a 3D structure
• Proteins can be denatured, heat causes it to lose its shape, and its functionality (More on enzymes later)

Proteins have four shapes

1. Primary Structure - sequence of amino acids that form the polypeptide chain
2. Secondary Structure - Parts of the polypeptide fold into local patterns (alpha helix or pleated sheet)
3. Tertiary Structure - the overall 3D shape (globular or fibrous)
4. Quaternary Structure - consits of two or more polypetide chains or subunits

4. Nucleic Acids

• Informational polymers
• DNA & RNA