Organic Compounds

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Organic Compounds

• Biology I Honors

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Elements and Compounds in Living Things

• 90 elements NATURALLY occurring
• Only 11 are common in living things
• MOST Common are
• Carbon
• Nitrogen
• Oxygen
• Hydrogen
• These 4 elements make up 96.3 of the human body
• 20 elements are found in small (TRACE) amounts in
  living things

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2 Main Groups of Chemical Compounds

• Organic
• Inorganic

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Organic Compounds

• Contain carbon
• Also tend to be
• Large molecules (made up of lots of atoms)
• Complex
• Lots of carbon and hydrogen atoms bound
  covalently
• These are the primary compounds that make up the
  working structures of living things!

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Inorganic Compounds

• Generally do NOT contain carbon
• CO2 is an exception
• Also tend to be
• Small
• Simple
• While NOT the major building blocks of life, they
  are absolutely necessary for life
• Think WATER and Carbon Dioxide!

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Whats so special about CARBON?

• Its a great Tinker Toy!
• 4 outer (valence) electrons
• Can bind with 4 different atoms

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Whats so special about CARBON?

• Readily forms COVALENT bonds with other atoms
  that are strong and stable

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Whats so special about CARBON?

• Can form chains of almost unlimited length by
  bonding with other carbon atoms
• These long chains can then FOLD to make many
  complex shapes

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THE BOTTOM LINE about CARBON

• It has HUGE potential for making a WIDE VARIETY
  of different types of molecules!

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How to BUILD (and take apart) Organic Molecules

• Polymer a large molecule made up of many
  smaller subunits
• Monomer a small subunit (building block) that
  can be joined with other subunits to make a
  polymer

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How to BUILD (and take apart) Organic Molecules

• Polymerization the process of building LARGE
  molecules by joining together many smaller
  subunits
• Provides a way for really large complex molecules
  to form from smaller ones
• Macromolecule term for VERY large polymers

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How to BUILD (and take apart) Organic Molecules

• Dehydration Synthesis
• Process that MAKES polymers
• Two monomers are joined together by removing a
  molecule of water from between them
• Dehydration lose water
• Synthesis making or putting together

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How to BUILD (and take apart) Organic Molecules

• Hydrolysis
• Process in which polymers are broken apart
• Add back the water that was taken out
• Breaks polymer into monomer subunits
• Example digestion

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Bottom Line about Making Polymers

• Small subunits link together to make large
  polymers
• Dehydration reactions link them
• Removal of water
• Creates covalent bonds between subunits
• To break apart polymers into subunits, you just
  add the water back
• Hydrolysis reaction
• Breaks covalent bonds between subunits

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Bottom Line about Making Polymers

• Really LONG complex molecules can be made and
  broken down by these methods.
• Like linking and unlinking cars in a train.

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FOUR MAJOR GROUPS of Organic Compounds

• Carbohydrates
• Lipids
• Proteins
• Nucleic Acids

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Carbohydrates

• Functions
• Quick ENERGY
• Energy STORAGE in PLANTS
• Energy STORAGE in ANIMALS
• Structural compounds for SUPPORT

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GENERAL CARB STRUCTURE Monomers and Polymers

• Monomers
• Monosaccharides
• Individual car in the train
• Polymers
• Polysaccharides
• The whole train

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Monosaccharides

• Monomers of carbs are monosaccharides
• Simple/single sugars
• Basic formula CH2O
• Example
• GLUCOSE C6H12O6
• Sugar made by plants in photosynthesis
• Others galactose (milk sugar) fructose (fruit)

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Why monosaccharides are important

• Energy in them can be made QUICKLY available to
  living things
• Energy is stored in the chemical bonds of the
  sugar molecules
• In particular, bonds between CARBON and HYDROGEN
  atoms store lots of energy
• When these bonds are broken, energy is released
• This energy is then available to use
• Cellular respiration converts this energy to a
  usable form!

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Monosaccharide - Glucose

• Note that there are lots of these C-H bonds in a
  sugar molecule
• Each has lots of potential energy stored in it

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Disaccharides

• DOUBLE sugars
• Two monosaccharides joined
• Examples
• Sucrose (table sugar)
• Glucose fructose
• Lactose (milk)
• Galactose glucose

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Why are Disaccharides useful?

• Not quite so easily broken down as
  monosaccharides
• Can by used by plants / animals for safe
  temporary storage of sugars
• Used in transport in plants
• Sugar not consumed on its way from leaves to
  roots
• Makes milk harder to digest in animals
• MOST adult animals cannot digest milk
• Keeps it for YOUNG ONLY

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Polysaccharides

• Made by joining MANY monosaccharides
• Sugar (thus energy) is STORED in this form

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TYPES of Polysaccharides

• STARCH
• PLANTS store energy in this form
• LOTS of GLUCOSE molecules linked in LONG CHAINS
• Animals CANNOT store energy in this form, but
  they CAN digest and USE it!

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Starch
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TYPES of Polysaccharides

• GLYCOGEN
• Energy storage carbohydrate in ANIMALS
• Found in the liver, mostly.
• ALSO made of lots of glucose linked together
• As you consume sugar, your liver converts it to
  glycogen and stores it.
• Through the day as you need energy, the liver
  breaks off sugars from the glycogen molecules for
  you to us

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Glycogen
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Cellulose

• STRUCTURAL carbohydrate in PLANTS
• ALSO lots of glucose linked together
• CELL WALLS in plant cells
• SUPPORT and PROTECTION
• UNDIGESTABLE BY ANIMALS
• WOOD

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Chitin

• STRUCTURAL carbohydrate
• Cell walls of fungi
• Exoskeleton of arthropods

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Lipids

• Waxes
• Oils
• Fats
• Steroids

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Functions of Lipids

• Energy Storage - animals and plants
• Insulation
• Keeps animals warm
• blubber

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Functions of Lipids

• Waterproofing
• Duck feathers are kept dry by a layer of oil
• Mammal fur (beaver, otter, etc.), too.

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Functions of Lipids

• shock-absorption/protection of organs
• formation of membranes in cells and organelles
• make important compounds called steroids -
  cholesterol and hormones (estrogen and
  testosterone, for example)

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Structure of Lipids

• Glycerol 3 fatty acids
• Glycerol is just a connector
• 3 fatty acids are the most important part

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Why are Fatty Acids the important part?

• fatty acids are LONG chains of carbon and
  hydrogen atoms
• remember bonds between carbon and hydrogen
  atoms STORE ENERGY!
• So fats (with their 3 fatty acids) are PACKED
  with energy and are GREAT at energy storage

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EFFICIENT energy storage

• Because there are SO MANY C-H bonds in fatty
  acids, lipids are VERY efficient ways of storing
  energy.
• Fats produce more energy per gram than
  carbohydrates do!
• more efficient means better for animals - lots of
  energy without much "baggage for animals that
  need to move.

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Efficient energy storage

• Some plants do use oils for energy storage
• Corn oil, peanut oil, etc.
• Efficiency is just not as important for plants
  since they dont have to move around - so starch
  is still often the primary energy storage
  molecule for them

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Saturated vs. Unsaturated Fats

• saturated fat - when each carbon in a fatty acid
  shares a single covalent bond with as many
  hydrogen atoms as possible
• causes the fatty acids to be very straight
• fatty acids like this can pack very tightly
  together
• because they can pack tightly, saturated fats
  tend to be solid at room temperature
• butter and lard

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Saturated Fat
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Saturated vs. Unsaturated Fats

• unsaturated fat - a fatty acid that has at least
  two carbons double bonded to each other instead
  of to hydrogen atoms - that is,
• the carbons are NOT bound to the maximum number
  of hydrogen atoms.
• causes the fatty acids to bend
• fatty acids like this cannot pack very tightly
  together
• because of this unsaturated fats tend to be
  liquid at room temperature
• oils

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Saturated vs. Nonsaturated Fats
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Protein

• Functions MANY!
• Structural build structures in organisms
• muscle contraction
• communication between cells
• movement of cell parts
• MOST IMORTANT ENZYMES!!!

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Structure of Proteins

• Monomers of Proteins are AMINO ACIDS
• ALWAYS a carbon in the middle
• ALWAYS an H at the top
• ALWAYS an amino group on one side
• ALWAYS a carboxyl group on the other side
• R group is always there, but TYPE of R-group
  VARIES
• 20 different types
• All have different characteristics

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Protein Structure

• A protein is a polymer of amino acids
• Amino acid monomers link together by covalent
  bonds called PEPTIDE BONDS. Proteins are long
  chains of amino acids
• sometimes called polypeptides in reference to
  their peptide bonds.
• Peptide bonds are formed the same way as all
  bonds among the organic compounds we're
  discussing - DEHYDRATION reactions.

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Making Proteins from Amino Acids
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Enzymes

• Chemical reactions are what living things are all
  about.
• Most of the chemical reactions in your body, if
  left to themselves, would not happen quickly
  enough for you to survive.
• CATALYST - something that speeds up a chemical
  reaction
• Enzymes are proteins that act as catalysts for
  the chemical reactions in your body.

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Enzymes

• Enzymes have unique shapes designed to fit the
  chemicals that they are to "speed up" (the
  SUBSTRATES of the REACTION)
• The region of the enzyme that FITS the substrate
  specifically is called the enzyme's ACTIVE SITE.
  
• The substrate BINDS with the enzyme at the
  enzyme's ACTIVE SITE.

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Enzymes

• Enzymes can either
• bring two (or more) reactants together more
  quickly and force them to react
• stress bonds in a single substrate and cause it
  to break apart more easily

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Enzymes

• An enzyme itself is NOT CHANGED by the chemical
  reaction it catalyzes
• A single enzyme can repeat its catalytic activity
  with many, many substrate molecules - that is, it
  can be used over and over again.

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Enzyme catalyzed reaction
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Enzymes

• ENZYMES ARE VERY SPECIFIC!
• If the shape of the enzyme's active site becomes
  damaged, it will be unable to bind with its
  substrate
• Thus, it will be unable to function.
• If an enzyme loses its shape it is said to be
  DENATURED.
• enzymes can be denatured by HEAT
• or by extremes in pH.

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Nucleic Acids

• Functions
• tell the cell how to function
• transmit genetic information to offspring

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Nucleic Acids

• Structure
• Monomers of nucleic acids are nucleotides
• Sugar
• Phosphate
• Base
• Many nucleotides linked together give a nucleic
  acid - RNA and DNA are the two main examples