Most macromolecules are

polymers.
• The formation of macromolecules from
smaller building block molecules
(monomers) represents another level in
the hierarchy of biological organization.
4 classes of macromolecules:
• carbohydrates
• lipids
• proteins
• nucleic acids
 A polymerization reaction is a
chemical reaction that links two or
more small molecules to form
larger molecules with repeating
structural units.
• A condensation reaction is a polymerization reaction which produces a
water molecule for each covalent bond.
• In living organisms, this type of reaction is specifically called a
dehydration reaction.
• This process requires energy and can occur only with the help of
enzymes to speed up the reaction.
 Hydrolysis occurs when the
covalent bonds are broken in
a polymer by the addition of
water molecules.

• The polymer is broken back down into

its component monomers.
 The assembly and
disassembly of monomers and
polymers requires energy and
enzymes.
• Enzymes are a class of proteins that make
metabolic reactions proceed much faster then
they would on their own. You will learn more
about enzymes than you ever wanted to know
in later chapters.
Organisms use carbohydrates
as fuel and building material.
• A carbohydrate is an organic molecule
made of sugars and their polymers.
• Carbohydrates are classified by the
number of simple sugars.
 Monosaccharides are simple
sugars in which C, H, and O
occur in the ratio of CH2O.
• Glucose is the most common.
• can be produced by photosynthetic
organisms
• store energy in their chemical bonds
• are linked together to form
disaccharides and polysaccharides
 Characteristics of a sugar
• have an -OH group attached to each carbon except
one, which is double bonded to an oxygen (carbonyl
functional group)
• Aldehydes have the carbonyl group at the end.
• Ketones have the carbonyl group within the carbon
skeleton.
• Small differences between isomers affects molecular
shape, which gives these molecules distinctive
biochemical properties.
Disaccharides consist of two
monosaccharides joined by a
glycosidic linkage.
 Polysaccharides are
macromolecules that are polymers
of a few hundred or thousand
monosaccharides.
• Polysaccharides serve as energy
storage in the form of starch and
glycogen.
• Polysaccharides provide structural
support in the form of cellulose and
chitin.
 Starch is the storage
polysaccharide of plants.
• Most animals have digestive enzymes to
hydrolyze starch.
• (hydrolyze = break down into smaller parts by
adding water)
• Starch has coiled and branched glucose
chains that provide easy access to enzymes
that break bonds between the glucose
molecules.
• Potatoes and grains are the major sources of
starch in the human diet.
 Glycogen is the storage
polysaccharide in animals
• stored in the muscle and liver of
humans and other vertebrates.
 Cellulose is a structural
polysaccharide that is a major
component of plant cell walls.
• Cellulose has side by side glucose chains held
together by hydrogen bonds at the OH-
groups.
• This arrangement is like steel rods in
reinforced concrete.
• Cannot be digested by most organisms
because they lack an enzyme that can
hydrolyze the beta configuration.
 Figure 5.8 The arrangement of cellulose in plant cell walls

About 80 cellulose
Cellulose microfibrils molecules associate
in a plant cell wall Microfibril to form a microfibril, the
Cell walls main architectural unit
of the plant cell wall.


0.5 m

Plant cells

CH2OH OH CH2OH OH
O O O O
OH OH OH OH
O O O O O
OH CH 2 OH OH CH 2OH
Cellulose
molecules
CH2OH OH CH2OH OH
O O O O
OH OH OH OH
Parallel cellulose molecules are O O O O O
held together by hydrogen OH CH2OH OH CH2OH

bonds between hydroxyl CH2OH OH CH2OH OH

groups attached to carbon O O O O
OH OH OH
O OH O
atoms 3 and 6. O O O A cellulose molecule
OH CH OH OH CH2 OH
2
is an unbranched 
 Glucose glucose polymer.
monomer

Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

 Chitin is a structural
polysaccharide that forms the
exoskeleton of arthropods.
• Chitin has nitrogen-containing groups
attached to its glucose monomers.
 Lipids are a group of organic
compounds that are insoluble
in water, but will dissolve in
nonpolar solvents.
• Lipids are classified as
– fats
– phospholipids
– Steroids
• Lipids do not consist of polymers.
• Lipids are grouped together because they are
hydrophobic.
 Fats store large amounts of
energy.
• Fats are constructed from glycerol and 3 fatty acids
forming a triglyceride.
• Fats are formed by dehydration synthesis.
• Fatty acids have a backbone of carbon atoms, a
carboxyl group at one end, and hydrogen atoms
occupying most of the remaining bonding sites.
• Fats are insoluble in water because the long fatty acid
chain has nonpolar C-H bonds which are hydrophobic.
• Fatty acids may vary in the location of the carbon to
carbon double bonds.
Saturated fats have no double
bonds between the carbons in
the fatty acid tail
• The carbon skeleton of fatty acids is
bonded to the maximum number of
hydrogens (saturated)
• usually solid at room temp
• animal fats
 Unsaturated fats have one or
more double bonds between
carbon atoms in the fatty acid tail.
• Tail kinks at the double bond, so
molecules are not packed as closely
together.
• Usually liquid at room temp
• most plant fats.
 Function of fats
• energy storage (1 gram of fat stores twice as
much energy as a gram of polysaccharide)
• more compact energy storage than starch
• cushions vital organs in mammals
• insulates against heat loss
• structural material (makes up cell
membranes)
• signaling molecule
Phospholipids differ from fats in that
the 3rd carbon of glycerol is joined
to a negatively charged phosphate
group.
• Another molecule is often attached to the
phosphate group.
• Show ambivalent behavior toward water.
Hydrocarbon tails are hydrophobic and the
polar head is hydrophilic.
• Are major constituents of cell membranes.
 Figure 5.13 The structure of a phospholipid
CH2
+N(CH )
3 3
Choline
Hydrophilic head

CH2

O
– Phosphate
O P O

O
CH2 CH CH2
Glycerol
O O

C O C O

Fatty acids
Hydrophobic tails

Hydrophilic
head

Hydrophobic
tails

(c) Phospholipid
(b) Space-filling model symbol
(a) Structural formula

Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

 Steroids are lipids with four
fused carbon rings.
• Steroids differ in the functional groups
attached to the rings.
• Different functional groups are attached
to the fused rings.
• Cholesterol is an important steroid as
many other steroids are synthesized
from cholesterol.
 Figure 5.15 Cholesterol, a steroid

H3C CH3

CH3 CH3

CH3

HO

Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

 Waxes have long-chain fatty
acids tightly packed and
linked to long-chain alcohols
or carbon rings.

• Waxes have a firm consistency and

repel water.
• The cuticle covering some plant parts
consists mostly of waxes.
 Proteins are some of the most
important macromolecules.
• Enzymes are proteins that regulate metabolic
processes by acting as a catalyst.
• A catalyst changes the rate of a chemical reaction,
but is not used up by the reaction.
• Enzymes perform their function over and over and
over and over until broken down by the cell.
 The function of proteins
includes:
• structural support
• storage
• transport
• signaling
• response to chemical stimuli
• movement
• defense
• catalysis of reactions
 A protein consists of one or more
polypeptide chains folded and coiled
into a specific conformation.
 A polypeptide is a polymer of
amino acids connected in a
specific sequence
• amino acids are the building blocks of
protein and consists of:
• a hydrogen atom
• a carboxyl group (this makes it an acid)
• an amino group
• and a variable R group specific to each
amino acid
 Polypeptide chains are polymers of
amino acids that are arranged in a
specific sequence and linked by peptide
bonds.
• The backbone of a polypeptide chain is N-C-C-N-
C-C
• An amino acid is a small organic compound.
• A peptide bond is a covalent bond formed by a
condensation reaction that links the carboxyl
group of one amino acid to the amino group of
another.
 There are four levels of protein
structure.
• The correlation between form and function
in proteins is an emergent property resulting
from superimposed levels of protein
structure.
• Each protein has a specific function that is a
result of its unique shape.
 The primary structure is the
unique sequence of amino acids
in a protein.

• determined by genes
• slight change in sequence can affect
structure and function of protein
 The secondary structure is the
repeated coiling and folding of a
protein’s polypeptide backbone

• contributes to overall shape

• stabilized by hydrogen bonds between carbonyl and amine
groups in the polypeptide backbone
• an alpha helix is a coil stabilized by hydrogen bonding
between every fourth peptide bond
• a beta pleated sheet has hydrogen bonds between parallel
regions of the polypeptide chain.
 The tertiary structure consists of
irregular contortions from bonding
between R groups of amino acids.
• A strong covalent bond called a disulfide bridge (bond between
two sulfur atoms) reinforces the contortions.
• Hydrophobic interactions result when the hydrophobic side
chains end up in clusters at the core of the protein out of contact
with water.
• Weaker hydrogen bonds and ionic bonds also twist the protein.
 The quaternary structure results
from interactions between several
polypeptide chains.

• Look at the collagen and hemoglobin

examples in fig 5.20
 Denaturation is a process that alters a
protein’s native conformation and
biological activity.
• A denatured protein unravels and loses its native conformation.
• Proteins become denatured by:
• transfer to an organic solvent
• exposure to chemicals that disrupt the bonds and bridges of the tertiary
structure
• exposure to excessive heat
• A denatured protein may return to its functional shape when returned
to its normal environment (although I would like to see you uncook an
egg)
 A nucleic acid strand is a
polymer of nucleotides.
• Each gene contains a unique linear
sequence of nitrogenous bases which codes
for a unique sequence of amino acids in a
protein.
 Nucleic acids store and transmit
hereditary information.

• There are two types of nucleic acids:

• DNA
• RNA
 Deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA
• programs all cell activity
• contains directions for its own replication
• is copied and passed from one generation of
cells to another
• makes up genes that contain instructions for
protein synthesis.
 Ribonucleic acid or RNA
• functions in the actual synthesis of proteins
coded for by DNA
• Comes in different versions—mRNA,
tRNA, rRNA
 A nucleotide consists of a five-
carbon sugar, a phosphate group
and a nitrogenous base.
• The nitrogen bases are either pyrimidines with a single sugar ring
and nitrogen atoms, or purines with a double sugar ring and
nitrogen atoms.
• The sugars are either ribose or deoxyribose.
• Because the atoms in both the nitrogen base and the sugar are
numbered, the sugar atoms have a ‘ (prime) after them.
 DNA strands are antiparallel.
• Nucleotides are joined by phosphodiester linkages
between the –OH group on the 3’ carbon and the
phosphate group on the 5’ carbon of the next nucleotide.
• The free ends of the nucleotide are different.
• The ends are referred to as the 3’ or the 5’ end.
• DNA runs from 5’ to 3’ just like a one-way street.
• Antiparallel means that the two sugar-phosphate
backbones run in opposite 5’ to 3’ directions from each
other.
 Structure of DNA
• DNA is shaped like a twisted ladder—a double helix
• The sides of the ladder are 5-carbon deoxyribose sugars
alternating with phosphate groups
• The rungs of the ladder are different nitrogenous bases.
• Each rung consists of two bases attached in the center by a
hydrogen bond.
• The bases always pair up the same way—cytosine with
guanine and adenine with thymine.
• The order of these bases carries the genetic information.
 Structure of RNA
• RNA is single stranded.
• The “backbone” of the strand is ribose sugar alternating
with phosphate groups.
• Sticking out from the backbone are the nitrogenous
bases—visualize this as half a ladder.
• RNA has the same bases as DNA except for thymine.
In its place RNA has uracil.
• RNA follows the same base-pair matching rules as
DNA.
ATP ( the organic energy molecule),
some coenzymes, and nucleic acids
are all composed of nucleotides
 ATP
• ATP has a string of 3 phosphate groups
attached to a sugar. The nitrogenous base is
attached to the other end of the sugar.
• ATP transfers the last phosphate group to
other molecules, which gives the new
molecule enough energy to enter a reaction.
 Coenzymes
• Coenzymes help enzymes.
• Coenzymes accept electrons and hydrogen
atoms stripped from molecules at one
reaction site and transfer them to different
sites in the cell.