Carbon Compounds 2.3 Key Concepts – What are the functions and make up of each group of organic compounds. Reading Strategy: as you read find the key ideas. Write down a few dey words form each main idea. Use the key words in your summary. Reread your summary, keeping only the most important ideas.

Chemistry of Carbon Carbon atoms have 4 valence electrons. This means they can form 4 covalent bonds. Carbon can form with carbon forming long chains. Organic chemistry is the study of all compounds that contain bonds between carbon atoms. Carbon can form single, double, or triple bonds. (but it can only form 4 total bonds.)

Macromolecules Macro = large (so macromolecules means large molecules that are made of many smaller molecules. Macromolecules are formed by polymerization. Which is where large compounds are built by joining smaller ones together. Monomers – these are the smaller units that are joined together to form polymers. The four groups of organic compounds are carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids and proteins.

Carbohydrates Made of C, H, and O atoms in a 1:2:1 ratio. Living things use carbohydrates as their main source of energy. This is our cheapest energy source. Plants and some animals also use carbohydrates for structural purposes. Carbohydrates are SUGARS!!!! Examples – pasta, sugar, potatoes

Saccharides Saccharides are SUGARS which are Carbohydrates. Monosaccharides are single sugar molecules. Disaccharides are two sugar molecules. Polysaccharides are many sugar molecules. (Poly=many) Cellulose fibers give plants their strength. It is a big part of wood and paper. Cellulose is a polysaccharide.

LIPIDS = FATS Lipids is just a fancy word for FATS. Contain C and H (Mostly – sometimes O) Lipids are used to store excess energy. (Which is why people gain weight when they consume more energy than they spend. LIPIDS are also used to make waterproof coverings such as skin and membranes. Steroids are lipids. Lipids are termed saturated when they contain the full complement of hydrogen atoms. Unsaturated if they contain at least one double or triple bond. Polyunsaturated if they contain more than one double or triple bond.

Nucleic Acids = DNA/RNA Contain C, H, O, N, and P Made of nucleotides. Nucleotides consists of a sugar, phosphate group and nitrogen base. Transmit and store hereditary information. DNA = deoxyribonucleic acid contains deoxyribose sugar RNA = ribonucleic acid contain a ribose sugar

Proteins Contain C, H, O, and N. Building blocks of proteins are amino acids. There are about 20 different amino acids but when they are connected in long chains they can form millions of different proteins much like our alphabet. ENZYMES are made of proteins but not all proteins are enzymes.