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ANATOMY AND
PHYSIOLOGY
CHAPTER 2: CHEMISTRY OF LIFE
BIO 343-FALL 2022
 OUTLINE

1) BASIC STRUCTURES OF LIFE: ATOMS, IONS,

MOLECULES AND CHEMICAL BONDS
2) ORGANIC COUMPOUNDS:
CARBOHYDRATES, LIPIDS, PROTEINS,
ENZYMES, NUCLEOTIDES AND NUCLEIC
ACIDS

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 THE CHEMICAL ELEMENT
• A chemical element is the simplest form of matter to have unique
chemical properties
➢ Example: Hydrogen and oxygen are chemical elements of water (H2O)
• Each element is identified by an atomic number, which is the number
of protons in its nucleus
➢ Example: The atomic number of carbon is 6 and that of oxygen is 8
• Chemical elements are arranged in order by their atomic numbers and
are represented by one- or two-letter symbols (e.g. C for carbon, Mg
for Magnesium, Cl for chloride)

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 PERIODIC TABLE OF ELEMENTS

© McGraw-Hill 4
ATOMIC STRUCTURE
© McGraw-Hill Companies

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 ATOMIC STRUCTURE
• At the center of an atom is the nucleus, composed of protons and neutrons
• Protons (p+) have a single positive charge while neutrons (n0) have no charge
• The atomic mass of an element is approximately equal to its total number of
protons and neutrons (the atomic number is the number of protons)
• Around the nucleus are one or more clouds of electrons (e-)
• Electrons are tiny particles with a single negative charge and very low mass
• The number of electrons equals the number of protons; hence, their
charges cancel each other and an atom is electrically neutral

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 IONS, ELECTROLYTES, AND FREE RADICALS
• Ions are charged particles with unequal numbers of protons and
electrons
• An ion can consist of a single atom with a positive or negative charge
(such as Na+ or Cl-); a group of atoms (such as phosphate PO43-), or a
molecule as large as a protein with many charges on it
• Ions form by the process of ionization
• The particle that gains electrons acquire a negative charge and is called anion
• The particle that loses electrons acquires a positive charge and is called cation

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IONS, ELECTROLYTES, AND FREE RADICALS
The process of ionization

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 IONS, ELECTROLYTES, AND FREE RADICALS
• Electrolytes
• Substances that ionize in water (acids, bases, or salts) and form solutions
capable of conducting electricity
• Electrolytes are important for their chemical reactivity, osmotic effects, and
electrical effects
• An imbalance in electrolyte may lead to coma and cardiac arrests
• Free radicals
• Unstable, highly reactive chemical particles with an odd number of electrons
• They are represented with a dot to symbolize the odd electron
• Usually produced by metabolic reactions, radiation, and chemical exposure
• Ex: superoxide anion O2-•

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 MOLECULES AND CHEMICAL BONDS
• Molecules are chemical particles composed of two or more atoms
united by a chemical bond
• The atoms may be identical (ex: nitrogen N2) or different (ex: carbon
dioxide CO2)
• Molecules composed of different elements are called compounds
➢ O2 and CO2 are both molecules because they consist of at least 2
atoms, but only CO2 is a compound because it has atoms of two
different elements

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 MOLECULES AND CHEMICAL BONDS
• A molecule is held together by forces called chemical bonds (ionic
bonds, covalent bonds, hydrogen bonds, and van der Waals forces)
• Ionic bond
• Attraction of a cation to an anion
• Weak and can easily dissociate in water
• Ex: Sodium (Na+) and chloride (Cl-) ions are attracted to each other
and form the compound sodium chloride (NaCl), known as table
salt, which breaks down in the presence of water

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 MOLECULES AND CHEMICAL BONDS
• Covalent bonds
• Formed by the sharing of one or more pairs of electrons

A single covalent bond is the sharing

of a single pair of electrons

A double covalent bond is the sharing

of two pairs of electrons

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 MOLECULES AND CHEMICAL BONDS
• Hydrogen bonds
• Weak attraction between a slightly
positive hydrogen atom in one molecule,
and a slightly negative oxygen or nitrogen
atom in another

• Van der Waals forces

• Weak, brief attraction due to random disturbances in the electron
clouds of adjacent atoms
• Important in protein folding, the binding of proteins to each other
and to other molecules like hormones
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 OUTLINE

1) BASIC STRUCTURES OF LIFE: ATOMS, IONS,

MOLECULES AND CHEMICAL BONDS
2) ORGANIC COUMPOUNDS:
CARBOHYDRATES, LIPIDS, PROTEINS,
ENZYMES, NUCLEOTIDES AND NUCLEIC
ACIDS

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CARBON COMPOUNDS AND FUNCTIONAL GROUPS

• Organic chemistry is the study of compounds of carbon

• Carbon is an especially versatile atom that serves as the basis of a
wide variety of structures
• Carbon atoms readily bond with each other and can form long chains,
branched molecules, and an enormous variety of carbon backbones
for organic molecules
• By 1900, biochemists had classified the large organic molecules of life
into four primary categories: carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and
nucleic acids

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 CARBOHYDRATES
• A carbohydrate is a hydrophilic organic molecule with
the general formula (CH2O)n, where n represents the
number of carbon atoms
• The names of individual carbohydrates are often built
on the word root sacchar- or the suffix –ose, both of
which mean “sugar” or “sweet”
• Simplest carbohydrates are monomers called
monosaccharides (ex: glucose, galactose and fructose
with the general formula C6H12O6)

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 CARBOHYDRATES
© McGraw-Hill

• Disaccharides are sugars composed of two

monosaccharides.
• Example: sucrose
• Short chains of three or more monosaccharides
are called oligosaccharides Sucrose is made of glucose and fructose

• Long chains (up to thousands of

monosaccharides long) are called
polysaccharides
• Example: glycogen
Glycogen is a long, branched, glucose
polymer used as energy-storage by cells
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 LIPIDS
• A lipid is a hydrophobic organic molecule, usually composed only of
carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen
• The five primary types of lipids in humans are fatty acids, triglycerides,
phospholipids, eicosanoids, and steroids
• In nutrition, the term fat often refers specifically to triglycerides
• The primary function of fat is energy storage, © McGraw-Hill

thermal insulation and protection for vital organs

• A trans fat is a triglyceride containing one or more
trans-fatty acids (found mostly in butter, but also in
meat and milk)
• They are associated with increased risk of
cardiovascular disease
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 PROTEINS
• The word protein is derived from the Greek word proteios, meaning “of
first importance”
• Proteins are the most versatile molecules in
the body, having a wide range of functions
including structure, communication,
transport, catalysis, recognition,
protection, movement and cell adhesion Examples of amino acids
© McGraw-Hill

• A protein is a polymer of amino acids, each having a central

carbon atom with an amino (ꟷNH2) and a carboxyl (ꟷCOOH)
group bound to it
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 PROTEINS
• A peptide is any molecule composed of
two or more amino acids joined by
peptide bonds
• Peptides are named for the number of
amino acids they have (dipeptides have
two peptides; tripeptides have three)
• Chains of fewer than 10 or 15 amino acids
are called oligopeptides, and chains larger © McGraw-Hill
than that are called polypeptides Amino acids and peptides

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 PROTEIN STRUCTURE
© McGraw-Hill

• Protein molecules have 3 to 4 levels of

complexity, from primary through
quaternary structure:
(a) Primary structure: Sequence of amino
acids, which is encoded in the genes.
Amino acids are joined by peptide bonds
(b) Secondary structure: Coiled or folded
shape held together by hydrogen bonds.
The most common secondary structures
are a springlike shape called the alpha (α)
helix, and a ribbonlike shape called the
beta (β) sheet.
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 PROTEIN STRUCTURE
© McGraw-Hill

(c) Tertiary structure: Is formed by further

bending and folding of proteins into various
globular and fibrous shapes. Van der Waals
forces play a significant role in stabilizing tertiary
structure
(d) Quaternary structure: Is the association of
two or more polypeptide chains by noncovalent
forces such as ionic bonds. An example is
hemoglobin, composed of four polypeptide
chains.

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 ENZYMES
• Most enzymes are proteins that function as biological catalysts, enabling
biochemical reactions to occur at normal body temperatures
• Enzymes are typically named after the substance on which they act (the
substrate) by adding the suffix –ase
• Ex: carbonic anhydrase removes water (anhydr-) from carbonic acid;
amylase digests starch (amyl); lactase breaks down lactose

Steps of an
enzymatic
reaction:

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 NUCLEOTIDES AND NUCLEIC ACIDS
• Nucleotides are organic compounds with three
principal components:
-a single or double carbon-nitrogen ring called a
nitrogenous base
-a monosaccharide (sugar)
-one or more phosphate groups
• One of the best-known nucleotides is
Adenosine triphosphate (ATP)
• Nucleic acids are polymers of nucleotides. The
largest of them is deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA):
• ~100 million to 1 billion nucleotides long © McGraw-Hill

• carries genetic information necessary to

synthesize all the body’s proteins
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THANK YOU!

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