Biochemistry the chemicals in living things

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Biochemistry (the chemicals in living things)

• Organic Chemistry
• The chemistry of carbon-containing molecules.

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Remember, living things are mostly water, but
whats the dry weight of a human composed of ?

• 54 Carbon
• 18 Oxygen
• 9 Nitrogen
• 8 Hydrogen
• 3 Phosphorus
• 1 Sulfur

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4 Major Groups of Organic Molecules

• 1. Carbohydrates
• 2. Lipids
• 3. Proteins
• 4. Nucleic Acids
• Polymers - Macromolecules formed by linking
  together many smaller repeating units called
  monomers.
• Made of CHON !

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Lets Take a Closer Look at Carbohydrates

• Group that contains sugars and their polymers.
• Composed of C,H, and O only.
• The ratio of HO is always 21.
• Ex. Glucose (formula ?)
• Main energy source of living things.
• Also structural in some organisms.

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Types of Carbohydrates

• Monosaccharides - Are simple sugars, the
  monomers of carbohydrates. Ex.
  Glucose
• Disaccharides - Are 2 monos hooked together by
  the process of dehydration synthesis. Ex. Sucrose
  and Maltose.

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How do these molecules join ?

• Bonds form between 2 simple sugars which links
  them together.
• The process that causes this is called
  dehydration synthesis.
• Whats hydrolysis ?

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More Examples

• Polysaccharides - Many monos hooked together.
• They can be either structural or storage
  polysaccharides.

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Some Polysaccharides You Need to Know

• 1. Starch - A storage polysaccharide found in
  plants. A plant stores most starches in its roots
  or stems.
• Think about potato plants (leucoplasts).

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• 2. Glycogen - A storage polysaccharide in
  animals like humans.
• Its stored in a humans liver.
• Process is controlled by the hormones insulin and
  glucogon.
• Glucose-gtglycogen
• Insulin
• Glycogen-gtGlucose
• Glucogon

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• 3. Cellulose - A structural polysaccharide
  found in the cell walls of plants.
• Its strong and indigestible to many animals.

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• Chitin - A structural polysaccharide in
  arthropods and fungi.
• In insects and crustaceans it is the main
  component of their exoskeleton.
• In fungi it is the main component of their cell
  walls.