Focus What property of water is this picture demonstrating and how.

Molecules of Life: Functional Groups

Molecules of Life— From Structure to Function Only living things make the molecules of life—complex carbohydrates and lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids All of these molecules are organic organic – Type of compound that consists primarily of carbon and hydrogen atoms

Figure 2.19 A molecular mimic

Modeling an Organic Molecule

Functional Groups Most molecules of life have at least one functional group functional group A group of atoms bonded to a carbon of an organic compound Imparts a specific chemical property such as polarity or acidity

Common Functional Groups

Building and Breaking Down Condensation reactions build polymers from monomers of simple sugars, fatty acids, amino acids, and nucleotides Hydrolysis reactions release monomers by breaking apart polymers monomers Molecules that are subunits of polymers polymer Molecule that consists of multiple monomers

Condensation Builds a large molecule from smaller ones Enzyme removes –OH group from one molecule and -H atom from another Covalent bond forms between two molecules – water also forms

Hydrolysis Splits a large molecule into smaller ones by a water-requiring reaction Enzyme attaches –OH group and -H atom from water at cleavage site