Organic Chemistry

Question 0

What can organic molecules contain?

Answer 0

Carbon
Hydrogen 
Oxygen
Nitrogen
Phosphorus
Sulfur

Question 1

What’s organic chemistry?

Answer 1

The study of molecules that contain carbon.

The study of molecules from living things was called organic chemistry, until chemists started making these same molecules synthetically.

Question 2

What are the functional groups?

Answer 2

Groups of atoms, often found together, that have a specific behavior.

Hydroxyl group; amine group; ether group; carboxyl group; ester group

Question 3

Define polymer and monomer:

Answer 3

Polymer: a long chain molecule made up of smaller units (monomers or singles). Polymers can be made of one type or of different types of monomers (copolymers). Some polymers occur naturally such as cellulose (glucose monomers) and proteins (made from the 20 different amino acids).

Question 4

What’s a dimer?

Answer 4

Polymer consisting of 2 monomer molecules

Question 5

What’s a trimer?

Answer 5

Polymer consisting of 3 monomer molecules

Question 6

Describe polymerization:

Answer 6

Production of large molecules by combining smaller units; achieved by the formation of peptide bonds

Question 7

What’s a peptide bond?

Answer 7

A bond formed between the N of one amine group to the C of another amino acid carboxyl group through dehydration synthesis.

Question 8

What’s an ether group comprised of?

Answer 8

One oxygen atom single bonded to two carbon atoms.

4 of the most common simple sugars in biology (glucose, fructose, ribose, deoxyribose) all contain an ether group.

Question 9

Where to find the carbon atom #1 in a polymer or group of atoms?

Answer 9

Carbon#1 is at the end of the carbon chain.

Question 10

How to form sucrose?

Answer 10

Sucrose (table sugar) is formed by the linkage of carbon#1 of glucose to carbon#2 of fructose.

Question 11

What’s a glycosidic linkage?

Answer 11

A bond between two sugars (formed by dehydration)

Question 12

What’s a linkage?

Answer 12

the manner in which atoms or radicals are linked in a molecule

Question 13

What makes plants stand upright?

Answer 13

Cellulose (dietary fiber in nutritional term)

Question 14

How do mammals store glucose for future use?

Answer 14

In glycogen

Question 15

How do plants store glucose for future use?

Answer 15

In cellulose

Question 16

What’s a hydroxyl group?

Answer 16

A hydroxyl group is an oxygen atom that is single-bonded to hydrogen and is also single-bonded to a carbon-containing group. They are found in alcohol like ethanol.

Question 17

What’s an amine group?

Answer 17

Generally, amines are a N that is single-bonded to three different groups that contain H or C. They are found in amino acids.

Question 18

What’s an ether group?

Answer 18

The ether group consists of oxygen that is single-bonded to two different carbon atoms. They are found in sugars.

Question 19

What’s a carbonyl group?

Answer 19

A carbonyl is a carbon atom double-bonded to an oxygen atom. They are found in our bodies in fatty acids and amino acids.

Question 20

What’s an ester group?

Answer 20

An ester group is a carbonyl where the carbon atom is also part of an ether. Esters hold fats together, by bonding fatty acids to glycerol to form mono-, di-, and triglycerides.

Question 21

What are the different types of carbohydrates?

Answer 21

Sugars, starches, and fibers. They are the fuel to our bodies.

There are simple sugars (monosaccharides) and complex sugars (polysaccharides). The most common biological simple sugars (glucose, fructose, ribose, deoxyribose) contain an ether group.

Question 22

What’s a protein?

Answer 22

A large biological molecule made up of amino acids that are joined together by peptide bonds

Question 23

Why are proteins important?

Answer 23

They can store energy, provide structure, act as enzymes to make chemical reactions happen, allow for movement, transport things, act as messengers, protect us from invaders, and regulate genes and other proteins.

Question 24

What’s the activation barrier?

Answer 24

A set of circumstances that makes an action more difficult to be launched

Enzymes make chemical reactions happen by decreasing the activation barrier.

Question 25

Define Hemoglobin:

Answer 25

A protein that carries oxygen from lungs to tissues throughout the body

Question 26

What do lipids look like?

Answer 26

Lipids have long hydrocarbon chains, and are glycerol type or steroids.

Ester is what holds fats together:

Triglyceride = glycerol + 3 fatty acids (carboxylic acids)

Question 27

Give 4 examples of proteins:

Answer 27

Keratin (hair, nails, skin)
Collagen (connective tissues)
Actin and myosin (act on muscles contraction)

Question 28

Define Antibodies:

Answer 28

Proteins that recognize and attack foreign molecules

Question 29

What are amino acids for?

Answer 29

For making peptides and proteins. There are 20 different types of amino acids classified among five subcategories:

Polar negative amino acids
Polar positive amino acids
Polar neutral amino acids
Hydrophobic non-polar amino acids
Special amino acids

Our DNA dictates the order in which amino acids come together.

Question 30

What’s a dipeptide? A polypeptide?

Answer 30

A dipeptide is a peptide consisting of 2 amino acids.

Polypeptides are up to about 30 amino acids long. Anything longer than that can be considered a protein.

Question 31

How to write amino acids?

Answer 31

From the side of the N of the amine group (n-terminus) to the side of the free carboxylic acid group (c-terminus)

Question 32

What’s the byproduct of a reaction?

Answer 32

The molecule that is lost over that same reaction

Question 33

Define primary structure, as it relates to amino acids:

Answer 33

Specifically ordered amino acids

Question 34

Define secondary structure, as it relates to amino acids:

Answer 34

Repetitive 3-D structure of a protein

E.g.: alpha helix, beta sheet, random coil

Question 35

Define tertiary structure, as it relates to amino acids:

Answer 35

Complete 3-D structure of a single protein

Question 36

Define quaternary structure, as it relates to amino acids:

Answer 36

Complete 3-D structure of a protein that contains multiple peptides or proteins

Question 37

What’s is denaturation?

Answer 37

Denaturation is the breakdown of secondary, tertiary, and quaternary structures of proteins; it can happen by heating or chemically treating a protein, and it leaves the primary structure of the protein intact.