Organic Chapter 8: Biochemistry Flashcards
What groups make up an amino acid?
Amino group and a Carboxyl group
How do you find out the systematic name for an amino acid?
- Find the longest carbon chain that includes the carboxylic acid group
- number the carbons starting with the carboxylic group as 1
- Write down the positions of any NH group and number them by their carbon.
(example - 2-aminopropanoic acid)
What is a zwitterion?
A dipolar ion, has both a positive and negative charge at either end of the molecule
How do you calculate an Rf value of an amino acid?
DIstance travelled by acid spot/distance travelled by solvent
What does TLC mean?
Thin-Layer Chromatography
How can you see spots on a Chromatography paper?
Ninhydrin spray or UV Light
What are Proteins?
Condensation polymers of Amino Acids
What are the three levels of protein structure?
Primary - Sequence of Amino Acids
Secondary - Alpha helix chain or beta pleated sheet
Tertiary - Coiled chain
What holds proteins in shape?
Hydrogen bonding and disulfide bonds
What are enzymes?
Biological catalysts
What are disulfide bonds?
Where two molecules have an S-H bond, and lose the H to form an S-S bond
What is an inhibitor?
Molecules that have a similar shape to an enzyme substrate - block enzymes
What are the three parts that make up a nucleotide?
Phosphate group
Pentose Sugar
A base
How is DNA formed?
Condensation polymerisation
What are the base pairs?
A-T
C-G
What is the medical use of cisplatin?
Binds to DNA in cancer cells to prevent replication.
However, binds to healthy cells too, so causes issues with cells that replicate frequently such as hair cells.
