Organic Chemistry - The Chemistry of Life
Mark Robertson Delta College
The Chemistry of Carbon
Molecules are either
organic
(contain carbon) or
inorganic
(carbon is absent).
Organics
contain carbon chains with single, double, or triple-bonds.
Chemical Shorthand
Functional Groups
Alcohol Group
Aldehyde Group
Ketone Group
Carboxyl Group
Amino Group
Phosphate Group
Alkyl Group
Common Organic Molecules
Use monomers to produce polymers (often by dehydration synthesis).
Four major macromolecules:
Carbohydrates (from monosaccharides)
Lipids (from fatty acids)
Proteins (from amino acids)
Nucleic Acids (from nucleotides)
Carbohydrates
Made of chains or rings of carbon with hydrogen and oxygen attached, their name ends in
-ose
Monosaccharides (1 sugar)
1) Glucose (C
6
H
12
O
6
) powdered sugar
2) Galactose (C
6
H
12
O
6
)
3) Fructose (C
6
H
12
O
6
) plant sugar
Disaccharides (consist of 2 linked monosaccharides)
4) Sucrose (C
12
H
22
O
11
) table sugar
5) Lactose (C
12
H
22
O
11
) milk sugar
Polysaccharides
Starch (plants)
Glycogen (liver of animals)
Lipids
Generally large, nonpolar (few charged ends), and hydrophobic (water hating)
Contain long chains of carbon and hydrogen, but very little oxygen
Grouped into
fats
,
oils
,
steroids
,
phospholipids
, and
waxes
Lipids - Fatty Acids
Many
fats
are used for energy storage and based on
glycerol
backbone
Can attach
fatty acids
(with a carboxylic acid group)
Lipids - Human Blood
If no double bonds,
saturated
fat (animal fats like lard and chicken fat)
Double bonds means
unsaturated
(plant fats like olive oil and peanut oil)
Use
triglyceride
to move fats in our blood
Lipids - Phospholipids
If take a glyceride molecule and add 2 fatty acids and a phosphate group, get a phospholipid (used in cell membranes)
Phosphate attracts water and the fatty acids repel water
Proteins - Amino Acids
Made from linked amino acids (with 20 used in organisms)
Proteins - Forming Chains
Linkages are called peptide bonds
Dehydration synthesis forms links
Resulting molecule is called a polypeptide
Proteins - Structural Levels
Primary Structure
Order of the Amino Acids
Secondary Structure
Helix or sheet-like folding
Tertiary Structure
3-D folding to create shapes
Quaternary Structure
Interaction of 2 or more chains
Nucleic Acids (DNA/RNA)
Built from nucleotides which have a sugar (ribose or deoxyribose), a phosphate group, and 1 of 5 bases
Thymine (T)
Adenine (A)
Cytosine (C)
Guanine (G)
Uracil (U)