The Star of The Show:

Why Is Carbon So Important?

• Organic vs. Inorganic in Chemistry

– Organic refers to molecules containing carbon
and hydrogen
• examples: methane (CH4) and glucose (C6H12O6)

– Inorganic refers to molecules without carbon and

hydrogens
• examples: carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O)
 Functional groups
Parts of organic molecules that are involved in
chemical reactions
Hydroxyl
 Carboxyl
– C double bonded to O & single bonded to OH
group
• compounds with COOH = acids
– fatty acids
– amino acids
 Amine
– N attached to 2 H
 Phosphate
– P bound to 4 O
• connects to C through an O
• lots of O = lots of negative charge
– highly reactive
– Soluble in water
• transfers energy between organic molecules
– ATP, GTP, etc.
Why study Carbon?
• Life is built of carbon molecules
• Cells are:
~72% H2O
~25% carbon compounds
• carbohydrates
• lipids
• proteins
• nucleic acids
~3% salt ions
• Na, Cl, K…
 Chemistry of Life
Carbon atoms can form 4 stable non-
polar covalent bonds with other atoms

C
H H
H
 Hydrocarbons
• Combinations of C & H
– Non-polar covalent bond
between the C and the H
• not soluble in H2O
• hydrophobic
– stable
– very little attraction
between molecules
 Organic Molecule Synthesis
• Biomolecules are polymers (chains) of subunits
called monomers
 Organic Molecule Synthesis
• Monomers are joined together through
condensation reactions
– Also called dehydration synthesis
An H and an OH are removed, resulting in
the loss of a water molecule (H2O)
 Organic Molecule Synthesis
• Polymers are broken apart through hydrolysis
(“water cutting”)
– Water is broken into H and OH and used to break
the bond between monomers
 Organic Molecules
• All biological molecules fall into one of four
categories
– Carbohydrates
– Lipids
– Proteins
– Nucleic Acids
Estimated Molecule
Percentage in the Human
Body
Water 65%
Proteins 20%
Lipids 12%
Inorganic 1.5%
RNA 1.0%
DNA 0.1%
Other 0.4%
organic