Chapter 3 Learning Objectives

To understand why carbon is so important in

biological molecules
To understand how organic molecules are
synthesized
To understand what carbohydrates, lipids,
proteins, nucleotides and nucleic acids are

Why Is Carbon So Important in Biological Molecules?

What does organic mean?
Organic refers to molecules containing a carbon
skeleton bonded to hydrogen atoms
Inorganic refers to carbon dioxide and all molecules
without carbon
The carbon atom is versatile because it has 4 electrons
in an outermost shell
Organic molecules can assume complex shapes

 Functional groups in organic molecules determine the characteristics

and chemical reactivity of the molecules

Functional groups are less stable than the carbon backbone and are
more likely to participate in chemical reactions

How Are Organic Molecules Synthesized?

Small organic molecules (called monomers) are joined
to form longer molecules (called polymers)
Biomolecules are joined or broken through dehydration
synthesis or hydrolysis
Monomers are joined together through dehydration
synthesis, at the site where an H and an OH are
removed, resulting in the loss of a water molecule
(H2O)
The openings in the outer electron shells of the two
subunits are filled when the two subunits share
electrons, creating a covalent bond

How Are Organic

Hydrolysis
Molecules Synthesized?

Polymers are broken apart through hydrolysis

(water cutting)
Water is broken into H and OH and is used to
break the bond between monomers

hydrolysis

How Are Organic Molecules Synthesized?

All biological molecules fall into 1 of 4 categories

Carbohydrates
Lipids
Proteins
Nucleotides/nucleic acids

Table 3-2 (1 of 2)

Table 3-2 (2 of 2)

What Are Carbohydrates?

Carbohydrate molecules are composed of C,

H, and O in the ratio of 1:2:1
If a carbohydrate consists of just 1 sugar
molecule, it is a monosaccharide
2 linked monosaccharides form a disaccharide
A polymer of many monosaccharides is a
polysaccharide

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What Are Carbohydrates?

Carbohydrates are important energy sources for

most organisms
Most small carbohydrates are water-soluble due
to the polar OH functional group
Glucose (C6H12O6) is the most common
monosaccharide in living organisms
Sugar dissolving in water
water
hydrogen
bond

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hydroxyl
group

Glucose (C6H12O6)

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What Are Carbohydrates?

There are several monosaccharides with slightly
different structures
The basic monosaccharide structure is:
A backbone of 37 carbon atoms
Most of the carbon atoms have both a hydrogen (-H)
and an hydroxyl group (-OH) attached to them
Most carbohydrates have the approximate chemical
formula (CH2O)n where n is the number of carbons in
the backbone
When dissolved in the cytoplasmic fluid of a cell, the
carbon backbone usually forms a ring
Example of monosaccharides
Glucose (C6H12O6): the most common
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What Are Carbohydrates?

Additional monosaccharides are:

Fructose (fruit sugar found in fruits, corn syrup,
and honey)
Galactose (milk sugar found in lactose)
Ribose and deoxyribose (found in RNA and
DNA, respectively)

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Monosaccharides

6
5
2

5
4

3 1

fructose

1
3

galactose
Fig. 3-5

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Ribose Sugars

ribose

deoxyribose

Note missing
oxygen atom

Fig. 3-6

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What Are Carbohydrates?

The fate of monosaccharides inside a cell is:

Some are broken down to free their chemical
energy
cellular respiration
Some are linked together by dehydration
synthesis
energy storage

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What Are Carbohydrates?

Disaccharides consist of 2 monosaccharides

linked by dehydration synthesis
They are used for short-term energy storage
When energy is required, they are broken apart
by hydrolysis into their monosaccharide subunits
glucose

sucrose

fructose

dehydration
synthesis

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What Are Carbohydrates?

Examples of disaccharides include:

Sucrose (table sugar) = glucose + fructose
Lactose (milk sugar) = glucose + galactose
Maltose (malt sugar) = glucose + glucose

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What Are Carbohydrates?

Polysaccharides are chains of simple sugars
Storage polysaccharides include:
Starch, an energy-storage molecule in plants, formed
in roots and seeds
Glycogen, an energy-storage molecule in animals,
found in the liver and muscles

Both starch and glycogen are polymers of glucose

molecules

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Starch is an Energy-Storing Plant Polysaccharide

starch grains

(a) Potato cells

(b) A starch molecule

(c) Detail of a starch molecule

Fig. 3-8

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What Are Carbohydrates?

Polysaccharides are chains of simple sugars
Many organisms use polysaccharides as a structural
material
Cellulose (a polymer of glucose) is one of the most
important structural polysaccharides
found in the cell walls of plants
indigestible for most animals due to the orientation of
the bonds between glucose molecules

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Cellulose Structure and Function

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Fig. 3-9

What Are Carbohydrates?

Polysaccharides are chains of simple sugars

Chitin (a polymer of modified glucose units) is
found in:
The outer coverings of insects, crabs, and
spiders
The cell walls of many fungi

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What Are Lipids?

Lipids are a diverse group of molecules that

contain regions composed almost entirely of
hydrogen and carbon
All lipids contain large chains of nonpolar
hydrocarbons
Most lipids are therefore hydrophobic and water
insoluble

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What Are Lipids?

Lipids are diverse in structure and serve a

variety of functions
They are used for energy storage
They form waterproof coverings on plant and
animal bodies
They serve as the primary component of cellular
membranes
Some are hormones

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What Are Lipids?

Lipids are classified into 3 major groups

1. Oils, fats, and waxes
2. Phospholipids
3. Steroids containing rings of carbon, hydrogen,
and oxygen

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What Are Lipids?

1. Oils, fats, and waxes

Oils, fats, and waxes are made of 1 or more
fatty acid subunits
Fats and oils
Are used primarily as energy-storage
molecules, containing 2X as many calories
per gram as carbohydrates and proteins
Are formed by dehydration synthesis
3 fatty acids + glycerol triglyceride

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Synthesis of a Triglyceride

glycerol

fatty acids

triglyceride
Fig. 3-12

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What Are Lipids?

Oils, fats, and waxes

Fats that are solid at room temperature are
saturated (the carbon chain has as many
hydrogen atoms as possible, and mostly or all CC bonds); for example, beef fat

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What Are Lipids?

Oils, fats, and waxes

Fats that are liquid at room temperature are
unsaturated (with fewer hydrogen atoms, and
many C=C bonds); for example, corn oil
Unsaturated trans fats have been linked to
heart disease

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What Are Lipids?

Oils, fats, and waxes
Waxes are highly saturated and solid at room temperature
Waxes form waterproof coatings such as on:
Leaves and stems in plants
Fur in mammals
Insect exoskeletons
Waxes are also used to build honeycomb structures

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What Are Lipids?

Phospholipids
Phospholipids consist of 2 fatty acids + glycerol +
a short polar functional group
These form plasma membranes around all cells
They have hydrophobic and hydrophilic portions
The polar functional groups form the head
and are water-soluble
The nonpolar fatty acids form the tails and
are water insoluble

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Phospholipids

variable
functional phosphate
group
group

polar head
(hydrophilic)

glycerol
backbone

fatty acid tails

(hydrophobic)

Fig. 3-14

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What Are Lipids?

Steroids
Steroids are composed of 4 carbon rings fused
together with various functional groups
protruding from them
Examples of steroids include:
Cholesterol
Found in the membranes of animal cells
Male and female sex hormones

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Steroids

Fig. 3-15

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What Are Proteins?

Functions of proteins
Proteins have a variety of functions
Enzymes are proteins that promote chemical
reactions
Structural proteins (e.g., elastin) provide
support

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What Are Proteins?

Proteins are formed from chains of amino acids joined
by peptide bonds
All amino acids have a similar structure
All contain amino and carboxyl groups
All have a variable R group
Some R groups are hydrophobic
Some are hydrophilic
Cysteine R groups can form disulfide bridges
variable
group

amino
group
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carboxylic
acid group
hydrogen

Amino Acid Diversity

glutamic acid (glu)

aspartic acid (asp)

(a) Hydrophilic functional groups

phenylalanine (phe)

leucine (leu)

(b) Hydrophobic functional groups

cysteine (cys)
(c) Sulfur-containing
functional group

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Fig. 3-18

What Are Proteins?

Amino acids are joined to form chains by dehydration

synthesis
An amino group reacts with a carboxyl group, and water
is lost
The covalent bond resulting after the water is lost is a
peptide bond, and the resulting chain of 2 amino acids is
called a peptide
Long chains of amino acids are known as polypeptides,
or just proteins
The sequence of amino acids in a protein dictates its
function

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What Are Proteins?

Proteins exhibit up to 4 levels of structure

Primary structure is the sequence of amino
acids linked together in a protein
Secondary structure can be a helix, or a
pleated sheet
Tertiary structure refers to complex foldings of
the protein chain held together by disulfide
bridges, hydrophobic/hydrophilic interactions,
and other bonds
Quaternary structure occurs where multiple
protein chains are linked together

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The Four Levels of Protein Structure

(a) Primary structure:
The sequence of amino acids
linked by peptide bonds

(b) Secondary structure:

Usually maintained by
hydrogen bonds, which
shape this helix

leu
val

heme group

lys
lys
gly
his
hydrogen
ala bond
lys
val
lys
helix
pro

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(c) Tertiary structure:

Folding of the helix results
from hydrogen bonds with
surrounding water molecules
and disulfide bridges between
cysteine amino acids

(d) Quaternary structure:

Individual polypeptides are
linked to one another by
hydrogen bonds or disulfide
bridges

The Pleated Sheet: An Example of Secondary Structure

hydrogen
bond

pleated sheet

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Fig. 3-21

What Are Proteins?

The functions of proteins are linked to their

3-dimensional structures
Precise positioning of amino acid R groups
leads to bonds that determine secondary
and tertiary structure
Disruption of secondary and tertiary bonds
leads to denatured proteins and loss of
function

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Hair is Composed of the Protein Keratin

single hair
enlargement
of single hair

microfibril
helix of
single keratin
molecule
protofibril
disulfide bonds in
straight hair

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hydrogen bonds

Hair is Composed of the Protein Keratin

Hair is composed of helical keratin proteins

intertwined and held together by disulfide bonds.

Hair straightens out when wet because the Hbonds that create the helical structure are broken
and replaced by H-bonds between the amino acids
and the H2O molecules between them. The protein
becomes denatured and the helices collapse.

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Hair is Composed of the Protein Keratin

Curly hair is curly due to the specific sequence of amino
acids. The disulfide bonds within and between the individual
keratin molecules are located such that the helices are
kinked, forming curls.
When curly hair is stretched out, the H-bonds that hold the
helical structure together are broken, thus straightening the
hair.
The covalent S-S bonds are distorted but not broken.

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What Are Nucleic Acids?

Nucleotides act as energy carriers and

intracellular messengers
Nucleotides are the monomers of nucleic acid
chains
All nucleotides are made of 3 parts:
Phosphate group
5-carbon sugar
Nitrogen-containing base
Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is a ribose
nucleotide with 3 phosphate functional groups

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Deoxyribose Nucleotide

phosphate

base
sugar
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Fig. 3-22

The Energy-Carrier Molecule Adenosine Triphosphate

(ATP)

Fig. 3-23

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What Are Nucleic Acids?

DNA and RNA, the molecules of heredity, are

nucleic acids
There are 2 types of polymers of nucleic acids
DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is found in
chromosomes and carries genetic information
needed for protein construction
RNA (ribonucleic acid) makes copies of DNA
and is used directly in the synthesis of
proteins

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What Are Nucleic Acids?

Each DNA molecule
consists of 2 chains of
nucleotides that form
a double helix linked
by hydrogen bonds

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