EXPERIMENT

10 BUILDING BLOCK COMPONENTS:

CHEMISTRY OF LIPIDS a. Fatty acids
b. Glycerol
Lipids - a 3-carbon organic compound with
- Heterogeneous group of compounds 3 hydroxyl groups attached on each
characterized by their insolubility in carbon
water
- these 3 –OH groups are the
- Can be extracted from tissues using possible sites for esterification
nonpolar solvents
Fatty acids
The MAJOR FUNCTIONS OF LIPIDS: - The simplest form of lipids, may be
- to store energy (energy can be saturated or unsaturated
expressed in calories) for the cell
- form part of the structure of Saturated fatty acids
membranes - Have no double bonds
- Fats (solids) at room temperature
- they comprise the most number of - Lauric acid, Palmitic acid, Stearic acid
classes. These are as follows: *see pg 102

1. Simple lipids - fats, oils and waxes Unsaturated fatty acids
2. Complex lipids - phospholipids, - Have double bonds
sphingolipids and glycolipids - Oils (liquids) at room temperature
3. Steroids - cholesterol, steroid hormones - Oleic acid, Linoleic acid, Linolenic acid
4. Prostaglandins and leukotriens *see pg 102

The groupings are based on the solubility in Waxes
different solvents. However, the fourth - Made up of long fatty acids, however,
group does not fit into this separation esterified with monohydric alcohol
scheme - Example is bees wax
(palmitic acid + myricyl alcohol)
Lipids can be classified as C30H61OH
1. Saponifiable – can be broken apart by - Used as ointments, polishes, floor waxes
alkaline and creams

2. Non-saponifiable – cannot be Complex lipids
broken/hydrolyzed by alkaline (like - Contain other constituents aside from
STEROIDS) lipids like glycolipids, which contain a
sugar group, phospholipids have
phosphate group while sphingolipids
have sphingosine rather than glycerol



Prostaglandins 5. Reaction to iodine
- Resemble hormones in function but not - The unsaturated fatty acids can be
in structure identified by their reaction to iodine.
- Have 20-carbon fatty acids - The more iodine that will react to lipid,
- Present in all cells and serve as message the more unsaturated are the fatty acids
carriers present in it.

Cholesterol In the experiment,
- A member of a large group of One will isolate 2 PROMINENT EXAMPLES
substances called STEROID OF LIPIDS IN EGG YOLK
1. Cholesterol, a steroid
- Important constituent of many - Found in high concentration in the brain
membranes and precursor for synthesis and nerve
of many substances - Also present in blood
- Serves as raw materials in making
- It influences membrane fluidity by its variety of steroids
bulky structure on animal membranes
2. Lecithin or phosphatidyl choline, a
CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF LIPIDS phospholipid
1. Hydrolysis - Good emulsifying agent = can disperse
- Lipids can be hydrolyzed to fatty acids fat in water
and glycerol
- This happens in the presence of hot The TECHNIQUE OF ISOLATION of the two
mineral acids or specific enzymes lipids is by:
Extraction using different solvents
2. Rancidity since the two are soluble in different
- Hydrolysis and oxidation of the fat or oil solvents.
results to rancidity
- Characterized by disagreeable odor and Cholesterol soluble in ACETONE
taste Lecithin soluble in ETHLY ETHER

3. Hydrogenation
- The process of adding hydrogen to REACTIONS WITH DIFFERENT REAGENTS
unsaturated fatty acids Some tests can be done to determine if
- Process that converts oils to fats cholesterol is recovered from extraction.

4. Acrolein formation 1. Liebermann-Buchard reaction
- Once glycerol was hydrolyzed, it can be - Cholesterol produces a BLUE TO VIOLET
converted to acrolein. COLOR that changes to EMERALD
- This compound s responsible for the GREEN upon the addition of acetic
unpleasant odor when fat or oil is anhydride and concentrated sulfuric
burned acid to a chloroform solution


2. Salkowski reaction
- The sulfuric acid layer becomes YELLOW
WITH GREEN FLUORESCENCE while the
chloroform layer contains cholesterol,
first becomes BLUISH RED and gradually
turning to VIOLET-RED