Download Chemistry of Carbon

Biochemistry and Much,
Much More
An Introduction to the Chemistry of
Life
Five Common Acids
1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
Acetic Acid: CH3COOH
Hydrochloric Acid: HCl
Nitric Acid: HNO3
Sulfuric Acid: H2SO4
Phosphoric: H3PO4
The Magnificent Seven
1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 
7. 
N2
H2
O2
F2
Cl2
Br2
I2
What is Life Made of?
§  Physical and Chemical sciences alone
may not completely explain the nature
of life, but they at least provide the
essential framework for such an
explanation.
§  All students of life must have a
fundamental understanding of organic
chemistry and biochemistry.
Organic Chemistry
§  Organic chemistry is the study of
Carbon compounds.
§  Organic compounds are compounds
composed primarily of a Carbon
skeleton.
§  All living things are composed of
organic compounds.
Organic Chemistry
§  What makes Carbon Special? Why
is Carbon so different from all the
other elements on the periodic
table?
§  The answer comes from the ability
of Carbon atoms to bond together
to form long chains and rings.
Organic Chemistry
Organic Chemistry
Carbon can covalently bond with up
to four other atoms.
Carbon can form immensely
diverse compounds, from simple
to complex.
Methane with 1 Carbon
atom
DNA with tens of Billions of
Carbon atoms
Polymers and Monomers
§  Each of these types of molecules
are polymers that are assembled
from single units called monomers
§  Carbohydrate
§  Protein
§  Nucleic Acid
Monomers
Polymer
Carbohydrates
Monomer
Monosaccharide
Proteins
Amino acids
Nucleic acids
Nucleotides
Carbohydrates
§  Carbohydrates are made of carbon,
hydrogen, and oxygen atoms,
always in a ratio of 1:2:1.
§  Carbohydrates are the key source of
energy used by living things.
§  The building blocks of
carbohydrates are sugars, such as
glucose and fructose.
Carbohydrates
§  What do the roots
§ 
mono-, di-, oligo-, and
poly mean?
§  Each of these roots
can be added to the
word saccharide to
describe the type of
carbohydrate you
have.
Polysaccharides
§  Most common type of carbohydrate
Proteins
§  Proteins are building blocks of
structures called amino acids
§  Proteins have four levels of
structure
§  A peptide bond forms between
amino acids (monomers in a protein)
§  There are 20 kinds of amino acids
Nucleic Acids
§  Basic unit (monomer) is
nucleotide
§  Nucleotides made up of nitrogen
base, phosphate and sugar