Categories
1. Biochemical Compounds

Classes of Biochemical Compounds

Although there are millions of different biochemical compounds in Earth’s living things, all biochemical compounds contain the elements carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Some contain only these elements, while others contain additional elements, as well. The vast number of biochemical compounds can be grouped into just four major classes: carbohydrateslipidsproteins, and nucleic acids.

Carbohydrates

Image shows a glucose molecule. The molecule contains 6 carbons fused into a ring with several hydroxide groups.
Glucose is a common monosaccharide which can form large polymers including starch, glycogen and cellulose.

Carbohydrates include sugars and starches. These compounds contain only the elements carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. In living things, carbohydrates provide energy to cells, store energy, and form certain structures (such as the cell walls of plants). The monomer that makes up large carbohydrate compounds is called a monosaccharide. The sugar glucose, represented by the chemical model in Figure 3.3.2, is a monosaccharide. It contains six carbon atoms (C), along with several atoms of hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O). Thousands of glucose molecules can join together to form a polysaccharide, such as starch.

Lipids

Image shows a bar of butter, two bottles of cooking oil, and a jar of coconut oil.
Fats and oils are examples of lipids

Lipids include fats and oils. They primarily contain the elements carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, although some lipids contain additional elements, such as phosphorus. Lipids function in living things to store energy, form cell membranes, and carry messages. Lipids consist of repeating units that join together to form chains called fatty acids. Most naturally occurring fatty acids have an unbranched chain of an even number (generally between 4 and 28) of carbon atoms.

Proteins

Image shows chicken breasts, eggs, nuts and lentils.
There are many sources of dietary protein.

Proteins include enzymes, antibodies, and many other important compounds in living things. They contain the elements carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur. Functions of proteins are very numerous. They help cells keep their shape, compose muscles, speed up chemical reactions, and carry messages and materials. The monomers that make up large protein compounds are called amino acids. There are 20 different amino acids that combine into long chains (called polypeptides) to form the building blocks of a vast array of proteins in living things.

Nucleic Acids

Nucleic acids include the molecules DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and RNA(ribonucleic acid). They contain the elements carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and phosphorus. Their functions in living things are to encode instructions for making proteins, to help make proteins, and to pass instructions between parents and offspring. The monomer that makes up nucleic acids is the nucleotide.  All nucleotides are the same, except for a component called a nitrogen base. There are four different nitrogen bases, and each nucleotide contains one of these four bases. The sequence of nitrogen bases in the chains of nucleotides in DNA and RNA makes up the code for protein synthesis, which is called the genetic code. The animation in Figure 3.3.5 represents the very complex structure of DNA, which consists of two chains of nucleotides.

A rotating model of DNA. It contains long strands of nucleotides. Each nucleotide consists of a deoxyribose sugar, a phosphate group, and a nitrogenous base. The sugar and phosphate groups linking in long chains. Two complementary strands of DNA are bound by hydrogen bonds holding complementary nitrogenous base pairs together.
DNA is a polymer made of many monomers called nucleotides. DNA carries all the instructions a cell needs to carry out metabolism.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *