L05: Organics, Functional Groups, and Polymers Flashcards
How many valence electrons do carbon atoms have?
4
Carbon’s 4 valence e– are too many to donate and too
few to accept enough e– to form ionic bonds.
How many single covalent bonds can a carbon atom form? What about double bonds? Triple bonds?
Carbon may form 4 single bonds.
Carbon may form fewer double bonds by sharing more
than one e– pair with a single atom.
And, rarely, a triple bond: H−C≡N
What is a carbon skeleton? What are the four ways in which carbon skeletons can vary?
Carbon atoms bond to each other forming carbon
skeletons that form chains, rings and complex shapes.
They can vary in:
- length
- double bond position
- branching
- presence of rings
In looking at carbon skeletons, can you determine the number of carbon atoms that are present even if they are not shown? Can you determine the the number of single and double bonds associated each carbon in a carbon skeleton?
What is a functional group? Which three activities are collectively associated with functional groups?
Functional groups carry out important activities.
Different functional groups have different activities but collectively: 1) may participate in reactions 2) help fold and/or stabilize large
molecules, and 3) increase a molecule’s solubility in H2O
We explored seven functional groups. Can you match the name of these functional groups with their diagrams or chemical formulae?
What is the difference between a ketone (e.g., ketose sugars) and an aldehyde (e.g., aldose sugars)?
Ketone - carbonyl function in middle of cardboard skeleton
Aldehyde - carbonyl function at end of carbon skeleton
What is an isomer? What is a structural isomer? What is a geometric isomer?
Isomers are compounds with exactly the same number of atoms of the same elements arranged differently.
Structural isomers differ in the arrangement of their carbon skeletons.
Geometric isomers differ in the arrangement around a C=C bond.
What is the difference between a cis and a trans double carbon bond?
Cis isomer means the same elements are on one side of the bond. Trans isomer means they’re on opposite sides.
What is an enantiomer? Can you recognize examples of each type of isomer? Can you discern among the three types of isomers (i.e., can you compare them pointing out differences)?
Enantiomers differ in the spatial arrangement of their constituents about their carbon centers forming left-handed (levy or L) and right-handed (dextro or D).
What is a monomer? What is a polymer?
Life’s largest/most complex molecules are polymers.
Polymers are large molecules made up of a smaller monomer repeated several times in a chain.
monomer, a molecule of any of a class of compounds, mostly organic, that can react with other molecules to form very large molecules, or polymers.
Which polymers form when biota polymerize the following monomers: sugars, amino acids, nucleotides, and fatty acids?
Biota polymerize: monomer → polymer
sugars → starch/glycogen
amino acids → polypeptides/proteins
nucleotides → DNA/RNA
(kind of) fatty acids → triglycerides
Which type of chemical reaction polymerizes monomers into polymers? Is water consumed or released by this type of reaction?
Biota polymerize monomers into polymers via dehydration rxns. Dehydration removes a water (releases) molecule so the monomers can now join and form a longer polymer.
Which type of chemical reaction depolymerizes polymers into polymers? Is water consumed or released by this type of reaction?
Biota depolymerize polymers via hydrolysis rxns. A monomer is cleaved from the polymer by splitting a H2O molecule and adding its parts (consumed).
What are the four kinds of biomolecules?
- Proteins (polymers of amino acids)
- Carbohydrates (polymers of sugars)
- Lipids (polymers of lipid monomers)
- Nucleic acids (DNA and RNA; polymers of nucleotides)
