Polymers Are Built From Monomers
- Polymer - long molecule of many similar building blocks
- Repeating units known as monomers
- Example: Carbs, proteins, and nucleic acids
Polymer Synthesis and Breakdown
- Enzymes - specialized macromolecules that speed up chemical reactions
- Dehydration synthesis - two or more monomers bond together through a loss of a water
molecule
- Hydrolysis - disassembled polymers into monomers
Diversity of Polymers
- Cells have thousands of different molecules
- Very among cells of organism, species, and even create different species
- Built from same monomers
Sugars
- Carbohydrates - polymers used for cell construction and energy storage
- Monosaccharides - simple monomer sugar used to build polysaccharides
- Serve as major fuel sources for cells
- Glucose (C6H12O6) is most common
- Disaccharide - formed through dehydration synthesis between two monosaccharides
- Glycosidic linkage - covalent bond between two monosaccharides
- Polysaccharides - polymer sugars with storage or structural role
- Starch - plant storage polymer for glucose sugars
- Glycogen - animal storage polymer for glucose
- Cellulose - plant structural polymer for cell walls; either a or B rings
- Starch (a configuration) largely helical
- Cellulose (B configuration) straight and unbranched
- Enzymes in human digestion only hydrolyze a linkages; B linkages pass through
as insoluble fiber
- Chitin is a structural component for exoskeletons and fungal cell walls
Lipids
- Lipids - hydrophobic hydrocarbon chains
- Fats - fatty acids to glycerol through triacylglycerol linkage (triglyceride)
- Energy storage, cushion, and insulation inn adipose tissues
- Saturated fatty acids have max # of hydrogen atoms with no double bonds
- Solid at room temperature
- Unsaturated have one or more double bonds
- Liquid at room temperature
- Hydrogenating oils create trans double bonds (trans fats) which may contribute
more than saturated fats to cardiovascular disease
- Phospholipids - two fatty acids and phosphate group attached to glycerol
- Polymer - long molecule of many similar building blocks
- Repeating units known as monomers
- Example: Carbs, proteins, and nucleic acids
Polymer Synthesis and Breakdown
- Enzymes - specialized macromolecules that speed up chemical reactions
- Dehydration synthesis - two or more monomers bond together through a loss of a water
molecule
- Hydrolysis - disassembled polymers into monomers
Diversity of Polymers
- Cells have thousands of different molecules
- Very among cells of organism, species, and even create different species
- Built from same monomers
Sugars
- Carbohydrates - polymers used for cell construction and energy storage
- Monosaccharides - simple monomer sugar used to build polysaccharides
- Serve as major fuel sources for cells
- Glucose (C6H12O6) is most common
- Disaccharide - formed through dehydration synthesis between two monosaccharides
- Glycosidic linkage - covalent bond between two monosaccharides
- Polysaccharides - polymer sugars with storage or structural role
- Starch - plant storage polymer for glucose sugars
- Glycogen - animal storage polymer for glucose
- Cellulose - plant structural polymer for cell walls; either a or B rings
- Starch (a configuration) largely helical
- Cellulose (B configuration) straight and unbranched
- Enzymes in human digestion only hydrolyze a linkages; B linkages pass through
as insoluble fiber
- Chitin is a structural component for exoskeletons and fungal cell walls
Lipids
- Lipids - hydrophobic hydrocarbon chains
- Fats - fatty acids to glycerol through triacylglycerol linkage (triglyceride)
- Energy storage, cushion, and insulation inn adipose tissues
- Saturated fatty acids have max # of hydrogen atoms with no double bonds
- Solid at room temperature
- Unsaturated have one or more double bonds
- Liquid at room temperature
- Hydrogenating oils create trans double bonds (trans fats) which may contribute
more than saturated fats to cardiovascular disease
- Phospholipids - two fatty acids and phosphate group attached to glycerol
