CHMA11H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 35: Catenation, Chemical Formula, Isomer
39 views2 pages
Published on 31 Mar 2019
School
Department
Course
CHMA11 Lecture 32: Intro to Biochemistry
- Biochemistry: chemical processes within and relating to biological molecules in living
organisms
o Essentially is the study of the chemistry occurring within living organisms
o Key focuses
▪ Focus on the structure-function relationships of the macromolecules
within cells
▪ Focus on the composition, organization and structure of biological
molecules and how they contribute to various biological processes in cells
o There are 4 key classes of biological molecules
▪ Known as Macromolecules: large complex molecules typically formed
from combining smaller and simpler compounds
• Nucleic acids, proteins, lipids and carbohydrates
• Polymers composed of unique monomer subunits
• Mostly composed of carbon
o Unique properties of carbon
▪ Has the ability and tendency to form 4 covalent
bonds
• Is also able to form double or triple bonds
▪ Has a tendency to catenate
• Catenation: bonding of atoms of the same
element in a chain
o Occurs most readily with carbon
o Carbon is easily able to form
covalent bonds with other carbons
nearby
▪ Isomer properties
• Structural Isomers: compounds with the
same molecular formula but different
arrangements of atoms
o Carbon containing compounds are
able to form different structural
isomers
o These isomers will have the same
formula but different physical and
chemical properties
- Understanding the 4 key macromolecules
o 1: Lipids: best described based on their physical properties rather than in precise
structural terms
▪ Physical properties