1. BIOCHEMISTRY
© 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS

2. Period table of elements
© 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS

3. Period table of elements
© 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS

4. C, H, O, N, P and S Elements of biological importance
H, O, C, are the most common
N, S, P are also important as well as the metals Na, Ca, and Fe
H, O, C, N, S and P form covalent bonds (single, double or triple e.g. –C-C-, -C=O –CN)
H, O, C, N, S and P are light
H, O, C, N, S and P very reactive
H, O, C, N, S and P produce diverse compounds which are reduced (readily oxidised).
© 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS

5. CARBON Tetravalent  4 different bonds  variety  isomerism
Forms long chains (polymers)  macromolecules and ring structures
Tetrahedral structure  3-D variation  optical isomerism.
© 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS

6. Organic compounds
Compounds containing carbon found in living organisms
Not including carbonates, hydrogen carbonates, CO2 or CO
Often based upon a skeleton of carbon
An infinite variety possible
Evolution has chosen a few for use in living organisms
There are just four principal groups: sugars, fatty acids, amino acids and nucleotides.
© 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS

7. The vitalisitic theory
Vitalism: living organisms are fundamentally different from non-living systems
Living things contain some non-physical element (spirit, soul)
Living organism are governed by different rules than non-living systems.
© 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS

8. Urea and the vitalisitic theory
Vitalism maintained that organic materials could not be synthesised from inorganic components
Wöhler (1828) synthesized UREA from ammonium chloride + silver cyanate.
Friedrich Wöhler
© 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS