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4 The Building
Blocks of Life
Organic Chemistry !
Life on earth is considered carbon-based
!
Organic chemistry is the study of organic
compounds compounds that contain carbon.!
!
Because carbon has 4 valence
electrons, carbon atoms bond
together to form a variety of
important organic compounds.!
Macromolecules
Macromolecules are large molecules
that are formed by joining smaller
organic molecules together.!
!
Carbohydrates
composed of a ratio of !
1 carbon : 2 hydrogen : 1 oxygen !
(CH2O)n !
!
Monosaccharides:
Simple sugars with 3-7
CH2O units!
ex: glucose!
!
Disaccharides: two
monosaccharides
joined together!
ex: sucrose and
lactose!
Lipids
Lipids are molecules made mostly of
carbon and hydrogen that make up the
fats, oils, and waxes. !
!
Lipids store energy, and are also used
to prevent water loss in plants and form
the honeycomb in beehives.
Saturated and Unsaturated fatsThe basic structure of a lipid includes a polar head
and fatty acid tails.
Lipids with single bonds are called saturated fats.
Lipids with one double bond are called
unsaturated fats.
Lipids with more than one double bond are called
polyunsaturated fats.
phospholipids-
Proteins
Proteins are made of smaller carbon
compounds called amino acids.!
!
Amino acids are made of carbon,
nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, and
sometimes sulfur.
There are 20 different amino acids that are combined in
different orders and arranged to make proteins.
Levels of Organization
Proteins have four levels of structure.
A proteins primary structure is the
sequence of its amino acids.
Secondary structure is the folding or
coiling of the polypeptide chain.
Levels of Organization
Tertiary structure is the complete,
three-dimensional arrangement of a
polypeptide chain.
Proteins with more than one chain have
a quaternary level of structure, which
describes the way in which the different
polypeptide chains are arranged with
respect to each other. (For example,
the protein shown, hemoglobin,
consists of four subunits.)
Nucleic acids
Nucleic acids transmit and store
genetic information.!
!
Nucleic acids are composed of
smaller repeating subunits
composed of carbon, nitrogen,
oxygen, phosphorus, and
hydrogen called nucleotides.!
- phosphate group
- nitrogenous base
- ribose sugar.!