COUPLED REACTION

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PROCESSES

GENERAL BIOLOGY 1:

QUARTER 2: WEEK 1
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Objectives:

❖ Explain coupled reaction processes and describe the

role of ATP in energy coupling and transfer;
❖ Differentiate endergonic reaction and exergonic
reactions through sample biological and chemical
reactions; and
❖ Draw a diagram showing exergonic and endergonic
reactions.
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Can you recognize these process?

PHOTOSYNTHESIS
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Can you recognize these process?

CELL RESPIRATION
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Can you recognize these process?

ACTIVE TRANSPORT
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Can you recognize these process?

METABOLISM
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Can you recognize these process?

CELL MOVEMENT
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All organisms continue to live

because of energy.

But how do organisms – from

bacteria and fungi to plants and
animals- use energy?
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Adenosine Diphosphate
(ADP) is said to be the
energy currency of life.
Imagine the organisms
as a machine.
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ATP is the organism’s “battery.”

It controls the amount and
timing of energy to be used and
release within the cells. ATP is
vital for many chemical reactions
to occur, some of which are done
to replace lost molecules.
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EXERGONIC REACTIONS
▪ (Catabolic Reactions) are spontaneous
or favorable chemical reactions
wherein the products are at a lower
energy level tan the reactants. In this
case, the reactions release more
energy than what was required initially.
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ENDERGONIC REACTIONS
▪ (Anabolic Reactions) are
nonspontaneous and usually occur
in organisms, because they need to
synthesize complex molecules such
as fats, amino acids, and sugars.
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CELL MOVEMENTS
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CELL MOVEMENTS
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▪ Because G includes both heat and randomness, the
terms exergonic (gives off energy) and endergonic
(requires energy) are used.
▪ For an exergonic reaction, the free energy of the
reactants is greater than the free energy of the products
and G is negative.
▪ Reactions with a negative G value do not require energy
input and occur spontaneously.
▪ Spontaneous processes will continue to occur once
started and do not require energy from the surroundings.
▪ Reactions with a positive G
value require energy input
from their surroundings and
are nonspontaneous.
▪ Nonspontaneous processes
do not occur naturally and
require energy input.
▪ A canoe can go upstream only
if the paddler inputs energy.
 z COUPLED REACTIONS
▪ Coupled Reaction is a chemical reaction
with a common intermediate in which
energy is transferred from one side of the
reaction to the other. An example is the
formation of ATP, which is an endergonic
process and is coupled to the dissipation of
a proton gradient.
(https://www.biologyonline.com/dictionary/coupled-reaction)
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▪ ATP is highly unstable molecule. It
spontaneously dissociates into Adenosine
diphosphate (ADP) and inorganic phosphate
even when there is no activity requiring energy.
Thus, this energy is produced as free energy and
is lost as heat. However, because cells are
efficient, they harness this free energy within the
bonds through a strategy called energy coupling.
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What is Gibbs Free Energy?

▪ The Gibbs free energy is the available energy of a
substance that can be used in a chemical
transformation or reaction. Substances tend to
transform into other substances that have less
Gibbs free energy. The change of Gibbs free
energy predicts whether a chemical reaction will
occur spontaneously.
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Free Energy and G

▪ The energy exchanged during a chemical reaction is
free energy (G), or Gibbs free energy.
▪ This is the amount of energy present in molecules
available to do work.
▪ The free energy change, G, is the energy difference
between the free energy present in the product and that
in the reactant molecules.
In this example of a coupled reaction, the phosphorylation of
glucose (an endergonic reaction) requires energy from the
hydrolysis of ATP.
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Simply put, a coupled biochemical reaction happens

when free energy from an exergonic reaction is used to
initiate an endergonic reaction by coupling or “joining”
the two reactions, where they become complementary.
The hydrolysis of ATP is involved in coupled reactions
with numerous biochemical processes, such as
phosphorylation of glucose, which is an initial step to
its conversion to fructose. Phosphorylation is the
process of adding a phosphate group to a certain
biomolecule , such as glucose.
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The hydrolysis of ATP is an exergonic reaction because it

releases energy. This energy will then be used for an
endergonic reaction, such as the phosphorylation of
glucose. Phosphorylation creates a high energy but
unstable intermediate. As the process continues, the
phosphate group slightly changes in shape and fit the
enzymes, which then transform the phosphorylated
glucose molecule into a fructose molecule. The
conversion of these sugars is important because
glycolysis needs the fructose molecule to produce
energy.
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Cellular Energy -
ATP
Copyright Cmassengale
▪ Components: ATP
1. adenine: nitrogenous base
2. ribose: five carbon sugar
3.phosphate group: chain of 3

adenine phosphate group

P P P
ribose
 Adenosine Triphosphate

▪ Three phosphate
groups-(two with high
energy bonds
▪ Last phosphate group
(PO4) contains the
MOST energy
 Breaking the Bonds of ATP

▪ Process is called
phosphorylation
▪ Occurs continually in cells
▪ Enzyme ATP-ase can
weaken & break last PO4
bond releasing energy &
free PO4
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How does ATP work ?

▪ Organisms use enzymes to break

down energy-rich glucose to
release its potential energy
▪ This energy is trapped and stored
in the form of adenosine
triphosphate(ATP)
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How Much ATP Do Cells Use?

▪ It is estimated that
each cell will generate
and consume
approximately
10,000,000 molecules
of ATP per second
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Coupled Reaction - ATP

▪ The exergonic
hydrolysis of ATP is ATP
coupled with the
endergonic H2O
dehydration process
by transferring a
phosphate group to
another molecule. ADP + P
H2O
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Hydrolysis of ATP
ATP + H2O → ADP + P
(exergonic)

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP)

P P P

Hydrolysis
(add water)

+ P
P P
Adenosine diphosphate (ADP)
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z Hydrolysis is Exergonic

Energy
Used by
Cells
 Dehydration of ATP
ADP + P → ATP + H2O
(endergonic)
Dehydration
(Remove H2O

+ P
P P
Adenosine diphosphate (ADP)

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP)

P P P
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z Dehydration is Endergonic

Energy is
restored in
Chemical
Bonds
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REFERENCES:

▪ https://www.biologyonline.com/tutorials/cell-respiration
▪ https://exploringnature.org/db/view/Cellular-Respiration-in-
Animals-and-Plants-Grade-9-12
▪ https://www.biologyonline.com/dictionary/catabolism
▪ https://www.difference101.com/catabolism-vs-anabolism/
▪ https://biologyteach.com/photosynthesis/