CHM 11500 Lecture 26: Biochemistry

• School: Purdue University
• Department: Chemistry
• Course: CHM 11500
• Professor: Chittaranjan Das

Document Summary

Carbohydrates are the most abundant class of biological molecules. Photosynthesis uses light energy to combine co2 and h2o molecules into carbohydrates. General reaction: nco2 + nh2o + light energy --> cnh2non + no2. Component of recognition sites on cell surfaces. Part of backbone of rna and dna. The preferred structure of sugars is 5-6 membered rings that may be joined together. Sugar monomers may be joined into chains to form carbohydrate polymers such as cellulose and starch. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. Amino acids consist of a central carbon bonded to an amine group, a carbon with a carboxylic acid group, and one of 20 side groups, denoted as r". Peptide bonds are the bonds between amine groups and carboxylic acid groups. Inside the cell, the ph is at a level such that amino acids exist in their ionized forms. Amino acids have different properties depending on the chemistry of their side chains.