Intro to Biological Molecules

Carbohydrates, Lipids, Proteins, Nucleic Acids

Types of Biological Molecules1. Many biological molecules are polymers

A. polymers are long chains or branching chains based on repeating subunits (monomers)

example: proteins (the polymer) are made from amino acids (the monomers)

example: nucleic acids (the polymer) are made from nucleotides (the monomers

Types of Biological Molecules

Polymer MonomerProtein Amino AcidsNucleic Acids NucleotidesCarbohydrates monosaccharide

s

Types of Biological MoleculesB. very large polymers (hundreds of subunits or

more) are called macromolecules

C. polymers are degraded into monomers by hydrolysis (“break with water”)

typically requires an enzyme to occur at a decent rate

hydrogen from water is attached to one monomer, and a hydroxyl from water is attached to the other

Types of Biological Molecules Hydrolysis/Degradation:

H-mono-mono-OH H-mono-OH + H-mono-OH

H2O

Types of Biological MoleculesD. monomers are covalently linked to form polymers

by condensation/dehydration

also typically requires an enzyme to occur at a decent rate

typically the equivalent of a water molecule is removed (dehydration synthesis)

Condensation/Dehydration Synthesis Reaction:

H-Mono-OH + H-Mono-OH H-mono-mono-OHH2O

Types of Biological Molecules2. The four major classes of biologically

important organic molecules are: carbohydrates lipids proteins or polypeptides (and related

compounds) nucleic acids (and related compounds)