A Journey Into The Molecules of Life

1
Biochemistry

• A Journey Into The Molecules of Life

2
Unit Overview

• Introduction / Processes 1 Week
• Carbohydrates 1 Week
• Proteins 2 Weeks
• Lipids (Fats) 1 Week
• Nucleic Acids 2 Weeks
• Total Time 7-8 Weeks

3
Organic Chemistry

• Carbon Based Chemistry
• Molecules contain C, H, O

4
Two Families

• Small (micromolecules)
• Large (Macromolecules)

5
Small (Micromolecules)

• 1. Simple Sugars
• 2. Fatty Acids
• 3. Amino Acids
• 4. Nucleotides

6
Large (Macromolecules)

• 1. Carbohydrates
• 2. Lipids
• 3. Proteins
• 4. Nucleic Acids

7
The Small Make the Large

• Simple Sugars Carbohydrates
• Fatty Acids Lipids
• Amino Acids Proteins
• Nucleotides Nucleic Acids

8
Organic Compound Structure

• Monomer
• Polymer

Chemical Bond
Chemical Bond
9
Carbon

• Organic molecules backbone
• Bonds with 4 sites (tetrahedral)
• Can form
• Chains
• Rings
• Branched Chains
• Fullerenes (Buckyballs C60)

10
Hydrocarbons

• Consist of only H and C
• Non-polar
• Burn well
• Insoluble in water (hydrophobic)
• Lipids pure hydrocarbons

11
Functional Groups

• Change the Characteristics of hydrocarbons
• Groups of atoms covalently bonded to the carbon
  backbone
• Changes during chemical reactions happen at
  functional groups, the rest of the molecules
  remains unchanged.

12
Water

• Humans have water based chemistry
• No water - no chemistry - no life
• Is water organic?
• NO!