1. The Chemistry of Life
Carbon Compounds

2. The Chemistry of Carbon
The study of all compounds that contain bonds between carbon molecules is called Organic Chemistry.

3. The Chemistry of Carbon
Carbon atoms have four valence electrons, each of which can join with an electron from another atom to form a strong covalent bond.
Carbon can bond with many elements, including:
Hydrogen
Oxygen
Phosphorus
Sulfur
Nitrogen

4. The Chemistry of Carbon
Carbon atoms can also bond with other carbon atoms, to form chains almost unlimited in length.
These carbon-carbon bonds can be single, double, or triple covalent bonds.
Chains of carbon atoms can even close upon themselves to form rings.
No other element even comes close to matching carbon’s versatility.

5. Macromolecules
Macromolecules are made from thousands or even hundreds of thousands of smaller molecules.
Macromolecules are formed by a process called Polymerization, in which large compounds are built by joining smaller ones together.

6. Macromolecules
The smaller units of a macromolecule, or Monomers, join together to form Polymers.
Think of each monomer as a single link. When they are added together, they form a chain. This chain is the polymer.
When you add many chains together, a macromolecule is formed.

7. Organic Compounds
Four groups of organic compounds found in living things are:
Carbohydrates
Lipids
Nucleic Acids
Proteins
Sometimes these organic compounds are referred to as biomolecules.

8. Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are compounds made up of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms.
Usually they are in a 1:2:1 ratio.
Living things use carbohydrates as their main source of energy.
Plants and some animals also use carbohydrates for structural purposes.

9. Carbohydrates
The breakdown of sugars, such as glucose, provides immediate energy for all cell activities.
Living things store extra sugar as complex carbohydrates known as starches.

10. Sugars Monosaccharides are single sugar molecules. These include:
Glucose
Fructose
Galactose
Polysaccharides are large macromolecules, formed from many monosaccharides.

11. Sugars
Many animals store excess sugar in a polysaccharide called glycogen, or animal starch.
Plants use a slightly different polysaccharide called plant starch to store excess sugar.
Plants also make another important polysaccharide called cellulose.

12. Lipids Lipids are generally not soluble in water.
Lipids are made mostly from carbon and hydrogen atoms.
The common categories of lipids are:
Fats
Oils
Waxes
Lipids can be used to store energy. Some lipids are important parts of biological membranes and waterproof coverings.

13. Lipids
Many lipids are formed when a glycerol molecule combines with compounds called fatty acids.

14. Saturated v Unsaturated
If each carbon atom in a lipid’s fatty acid chains is joined to another carbon atom by a single bond, the lipid is said to be saturated. (Contains the max number of hydrogen atoms)
If there is at least one carbon-carbon double bond in the fatty acid, it is said to be unsaturated. More than one double bond said to be polyunsaturated.

15. Nucleic Acids
Macromolecules containing hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, and phospherous.
Store and transmit hereditary, or genetic, information.
Nucleic acids are polymers assembled from individual monomers known as nucleotides.

16. Nucleotides Consists of three parts: A 5-carbon sugar
A phosphate group
A nitrogenous base
Changing the sugar and nitrogenous base produces different nucleotide subunits

17. Nucleic Acids Different Sugars: RNA Ribonucleic acid
Contains the sugar Ribose
DNA
Deoxyronucleic acid
Contains the sugar Deoxyribose

18. Nucleic Acids Different Nitrogenous Bases:
There are five different nitrogenous bases
Adenine (A)
Guanine (G)
Cytosine (C)
Thymine (T) – only in DNA
Uracil (U) – only in RNA

19. Proteins
Macromolecules that contains nitrogen as well as carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.
Proteins are polymers of molecules called Amino Acids.
Amino acids are compounds with an amino group on one end and a carboxyl group on the other end.

20. Amino Acids
What distinguishes one amino acid from another is the R-group section of the molecule.
They are identical in the regions where they may be joined together by covalent bonds.
More than 20 different amino acids are found in nature.

21. Amino Acids
The uniformity of Amino Acids allows any amino acid to be joined to any other amino acid – by bonding an amino group to a carboxyl group.

22. R-Group
The portion of each amino acid that is different is a side chain called an R-Group.
Some R-Groups:
Are acidic and some basic
Polar and some non-polar
Contain carbon rings

23. Amino Acids
The instructions for arranging amino acids into many different proteins are stores in DNA.

24. Proteins Each protein has a specific role:
Some control the rate of reactions and regulate cell processes
Some are used to form bones and muscles
Others transport substances into or out of cells or help to fight disease.

25. Proteins Can have up to four levels of organization:
Level one – the sequence of amino acids in a protein chain.
Level two – the amino acids within a chain can be twisted or folded.
Level three – the chain itself is folded
Level four – interaction of two or more chains

26. Proteins
Van der Waals forces and hydrogen bonds help maintain a protein’s shape.

27. Carbon Compounds Carbohydrates Lipids Nucleic Acids Proteins
that consists of
that consists of
that consists of
that consists of
Sugars and
Starches
Fats and Oils
Nucleotides
Amino Acids
which contains
which contains
which contains
which contains
Carbon,
Hydrogen,
Oxygen
Carbon,
Hydrogen,
Oxygen
Carbon, Hydrogen,
Oxygen, Nitrogen,
Phospherous
Carbon,
Hydrogen, Oxygen,
Nitrogen