INTRODUCTORY BIOLOGY

By
HOANG ANH HOANG, Ph.D.
Department of Biotechnology,
Faculty of Chemical Engineering, HCMUT

Chapter 2
Chemical bonds and Macromolecules

Monomers - Macromolecules
A cell Is mainly formed from Carbon compounds

I. Chemical bonds
Covalent bonds
Non-covalent bonds
- Hydrogen bonds
- Ionic bonds
- Van de waal interaction
- Hydrophobic effect

1. Covalent bonds
- Principle force to hold atoms
together
- Sharing electrons

- Typical length: 0.15-0.2 nm

- strong bond

 Single-double-triple bonds
CC
C=C
C --- C

 Chirality (optical isomers)

 Polar-nonpolar bonds
C C, C H : nonpolar
H-O-H: polar

2. Noncovalent bonds
- Hydrogen bonds
- Ionic bonds
- Van der Waals bonds
- Hydrophobic effect

 Hydrogen bonds
- A hydrogen bond is the interaction of a partially
positively charged hydrogen atom with O or N
(negative charged)

- Strength: ~1/20 covalent bonds

 Example:

 Ionic bond (Electrostatic)

Ionic interactions result from the attraction of a
positively charged iona cationfor a negatively
charged ionan anion.

 Van der Waals Interactions

When any two atoms approach each other closely,
they create a weak, nonspecific attractive force
called a van der Waals interaction.

Weak: 1/3-1/4 hydrogen bonds

 Hydrophobic Effect
- Molecules that contain nonpolar bonds are usually
insoluble in water and are termed hydrophobic

 Strength of the bonds

II. Macromolecules
Carbohydrates
Proteins
Nucleic acids
(Lipid)

Monomers Polymers

1. Carbohydrates

Monosaccharides
The general formula (CH2O)n, n can be 3, 5, 6, and
have two or more hydroxyl groups.

 Ring formation
In aqueous solution, the aldehyde or ketone group of a sugar
molecule tends to react with a hydroxyl group of the same
molecule

 Isomers
- Many monosaccharides differ only in the spatial
arrangement of atoms

Disaccharides
The carbon that carries the aldehyde or the ketone
can react with any hydroxyl group on a second
sugar molecule to form a disaccharide.
The linkage is called a glycosidic bond.

Oligosaccharides and Polysaccharides

Short chains are called oligosaccharides
Long chains are called polysaccharides

2. Nucleic acid

 Monomer: nucleotides
Two types of chemically similar nucleic acids, DNA
(deoxyribonucleic acid) and RNA (ribonucleic acid),
are the principal information-carrying molecules of
the cell.

Five Different Bases to Build Nucleic Acids

 A DNA molecule is composed of two antiparallel

DNA strands held together by hydrogen bonds
between the paired bases.

The Structure of DNA Provides a Mechanism for

Heredity
How could the information to specify an organism
be carried in a chemical form?
How could this information be duplicated and
copied from generation to generation?

3. Protein
The amino acid

 Amino acid families:

- acidic
- basic
- uncharged polar
- nonpolar

 Basic side chains

- example:

 Acidic side chains

- example:

 Uncharged polar side chains

 Nonpolar side chains

- example:

 There are 20 different of amino acids in proteins

 Peptide bonds

 N-terminus; C-terminus

 Protein folding
- noncovalent bonds

The Helix and the Sheet Are Common Folding

Patterns
Helix

 Sheet
(A) An antiparallel sheet; (B) A parallel sheet.

Example: antiparallel sheet

Covalent Cross-Linkages Stabilize Extracellular

Proteins
the most common cross-linkages in proteins are
covalent sulfursulfur bonds.

 Protein structure

- Primary (sequence of aa)

- Secondary (local)
- Tertiary
The Helix and the Sheet
- Quaternary
> 1 polypeptide chain

4. Lipids
R-COOH (R: tail)

 Triacylglycerols (triglycerides)

 Phospholipids
- the major constituents of cell membranes.