Unit 1 (Chapter 3 Part 1) Flashcards
What is a carbon-containing molecule, so named because such molecules were first discovered in living organisms?
Organic molecule (contains carbon)
What are other organic molecules instead of carbohydrate, proteins, and nucleic acids?
Lipids
What was Vitalism?
Organic molecules could not be created and were a vital life force within living things.
How was Vitalism disproved?
Wohler accidentally created urea crystals which he studied extensively. This began the field of organic chemistry.
What is so special about the carbon atom?
It can form four covalent bonds.
What types of atoms does carbon bond to?
Bonds with other carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur atoms.
What types of bonds is carbon capable of?
Single or double bonds.
Or, in the case of Carbon and Nitrogen, can be triple bonds.
What bonds with carbon are nonpolar?
Carbon and hydrogen (similar electronegativities) bonding and obviously with Carbon and Carbon bonding.
What do you call molecules with predominantly hydrogen–carbon bonds?
Hydrocarbons
Remember: They are poorly soluble in water and have extremely similar electronegativities.
Otherwise, formations with molecules such as oxygen or nitrogen, they are much more soluble in water.
What is another important feature of carbon?
Carbon bonds are stable within large temperature ranges.
Why are carbon bonds more stable in a large range of temperatures (frigid poles and superheated deep-sea vents)?
Since Carbon atoms are relatively small, their bonds are incredibly short which makes them much stronger. Longer bonds tend to form between larger atoms.
What is a group of atoms with a characteristic chemical structure that exhibits particular properties?
Functional Groups
Each functional group exhibits the same properties in all molecules in which it occurs.
Bonus: What does the R mean in chemical formulas?
A radical.
It is an abbreviation for any group in which a carbon or hydrogen atom is attached.
What are some functional groups, where they might be found, and their properties?
Amino - Amino acids (proteins) // Weakly basic (can accept H+); polar; forms part of peptide bonds
Carbonyl - Steroids, waxes, and proteins // Polar; highly chemically reactive; forms hydrogen bonds
Aldehyde - Linear forms of sugars and some odor molecules // Polar; highly chemically reactive; forms hydrogen bonds
Carboxyl - Amino acids, fatty acids // Acidic (gives up H+ in water); forms part of peptide bonds
Hydroxyl -
Steroids, alcohol, carbohydrates, some amino acids // Polar; forms hydrogen bonds with water
Methyl - May be attached to DNA, proteins, and carbohydrates // Nonpolar
Phosphate - Nucleic acids, ATP, phospholipids // Polar; weakly acidic and negatively charged at typical pH of living organisms
Sulfate - May be attached to carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids // Polar; negatively charged at typical pH of living organisms
Sulfhydryl - Proteins that contain the amino acid cysteine // Polar; forms disulfide bridges in many proteins
What is an isomer?
Two or more molecules with the same chemical formula but different structures and characteristics.
What are isomers that contain the same atoms but in different bonding relationships?
Structural isomers.
Much like urea and ammonium cyanate. Or like isopropyl alcohol and propyl alcohol.
What are isomers with identical bonding relationships, but different spatial positioning of their atoms?
Stereoisomers
What are the two types of stereoisomers?
Cis-trans isomers and enantiomers.
What are organic molecules with the same chemical composition but existing in two different configurations determined by the positions of hydrogen atoms on the two carbons of a C═C double bond?
Cis/trans isomers.
When the hydrogen atoms are on the same side of the double bond, it is called a cis isomer; when on the opposite sides of the double bond, it is a trans isomer.
What is the most notable property of a cis/trans isomer?
Their stability and sensitivity to heat and light.
For example, the light sensitive region of your eye contains a molecule called retinal, which exists in either a cis or trans form. In darkness, the cis-retinal form predominates. The energy of sunlight, however, causes retinal to isomerize to the trans form. The trans-retinal activates the light-capturing cells in the eye.
What isomer is one of a pair of stereoisomers that exist as mirror images?
Enantiomer.
You can think of these as a pair of gloves. No way you hold the left-handed glove, it will never fit the right hand.
Another example… An enzyme that recognizes one enantiomer usually does not recognize the other.
Some organic molecules are extremely large. How do these molecules link together?
They use organic molecules called a Monomer (meaning one part).
This is used to form a larger molecule called a polymer which consists of many repeating units of the monomer.
What is a large molecule formed by linking many smaller molecules called monomers?
A polymer (meaning many parts).
What is a chemical reaction in which two or more molecules are combined into one larger molecule by covalent boning, with the loss of a small molecule?
Condensation reaction.
This produces a larger organic molecule plus a water molecule.
What is another name for condensation reaction and why?
Dehydration reaction because a molecule of water is lost.
T/F Polymers can reach great lengths, much like DNA, by the process of dehydration reactions up to millions of monomers called nucleotides.
True
What is an example of an unstable polymer unlike the stable polymer of DNA?
Carbohydrates
What is the process by which a polymer is broken down into monomers?
A hydrolysis reaction.
This is a chemical reaction that utilizes water to break apart other molecules.
In the example of a carbohydrate, plants store them as starches, which use hydrolysis reactions to break them down into their constituent monomers for energy.
What are the four broad categories of organic molecules and macromolecules in all forms of life based on their chemical and biological properties?
Carbohydrates, Lipids, Proteins, and Nucleic acids.
