Chemistry of Life 1 - MT1 - Part 2 Flashcards
What are the 3 molecular basis of life?
- Cannot understand life if you don’t understand chemistry
- Life is carbon based
- Most carbon containing molecules in organisms are chiral
Why is life said to be carbon based?
Because carbon has flexible bonding properties that allow it to form a huge variety of molecules
Apart from water, what do almost all molecules found in cells have?
Carbon
What kind of bonds does carbon make?
Strong covalent bonds
What is carbon known as?
The backbone for the majority of organisms
Chiral molecule
Is a molecule that cannot be superimposed on its mirror image
- carbon with 4 different atoms bonded to it
What is an example of chiral?
Your hands
What happens if you line up L and D isomers?
They dont line up
What bonds holds water together?
H bonds
What is the medium where most biochemical reactions take place?
Water
Why are most biochemical reactions soluble in water?
Because the water molecules has regions with local negative (O2) and positive (H+) charge and they create a sense of stickiness
Is water non polar or polar?
Polar
Hydrophilic
Water loving
Hydrophobic
Water fearing
What make up membranes?
Phospholipids
What are the tail of the phospholipids made up of?
Hydrophobic molecules
What are the heads of the phospholipids made up of?
Hydrophilic molecules
Why does salt dissolve in water?
Because Na and Cl are attracted to the water molecules with their partial charges
- electrostatic attraction
What is an example of a molecule that is soluble in water?
Myoglobin
What formula do many astrobiologists believe in?
Water = life
What 2 statements have not been proven yet for astrobiologists?
- Where there is life there is water
2. Where there is water there is life
What is an example of life without water?
Saturn has ethane and methane
What is an example of water without life?
Lake vostok
- is a lake under the glacier
What can you think of carbohydrates as?
Sugars
Monosaccharide
1 sugar
Disaccharide
2 sugars
Polysaccharide
Many sugars (polymers of sugar)
Oligosaccharide
Few sugars
What are carbohydrates made up of?
Repeating sugar units
What are the backbone of carbon atoms?
Monosaccharides
What can breaking and re-arranging bonds lead to?
Release of energy
What are 3 functions of sugars?
- Energy source
- Energy transport
- Carbon skeletons for modification
What provides energy for the cell?
Glucose
- through oxidation
- this is why you need O2
Energy transport
Carbohydrates are broken down to glucose and moved throughout the cell
What kind of process is energy transport?
A cellular process
What do plants us for energy?
Sucrose
What are 2 functions of polysaccharides?
- Energy storage
2. Structural support
What is an example of energy storage?
Starch
- source of energy
What is an example of structural support?
Cellulose
- provides stability and shape for the cell
