Chapter 4 :
Biological molecules
O-level
Done by:
Ma'an Al Hasasneh
4.1 biological molecules
Organic molecules
• Biological molecules are often called organic
molecules, since many of them were discovered in
living organisms
• Chemists have found that organic molecules all
contain carbon and hydrogen atoms (often along with
other elements)
• Carbon atoms bond strongly to other carbon atoms,
so organic molecules can be large and show a wide
variety of chain and ring structures, with many carbon
atoms bonded together
Organisms need organic molecules to:
• provide energy to drive life processes
• provide raw materials for the growth and repair of tissues
• Nutrition supplies living organisms with the molecules that they need
• There are four main groups of organic chemicals used by living things:
1. Carbohydrates 2. lipids
3. Proteins 4. nucleic acids
Basic biochemistry
• Living organisms also contain
inorganic molecules (such as water)
and a number of ions
• The study of the organic and
inorganic molecules that make up
living organisms is called
biochemistry
• The sum of all the chemical
reactions in living organisms is
sometimes called metabolism
• Large organic molecules are usually made up of lots of similar smaller
molecules called subunits
• The subunits can be split apart by a reaction called hydrolysis, which
uses water
• They can be joined together again, perhaps in new combinations, by a
reaction called condensation (dehydration synthesis), which produces
water
In this way living organisms
can take molecules from their
environment and rearrange
them into shapes that suit
their own particular
requirements, as illustrated
• All organic molecules contain the elements
carbon and hydrogen
• The simplest organic molecule is methane,
CH4
• More complex organic molecules also
contain oxygen
• The biological function of a molecule
depends on its shape and structure
• The diagrams next slides show the
structures of the different groups of organic
molecules: note which elements they
contain.
• Some molecules contain only
carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and
oxygen (O),like
carbohydrates and lipids
• Some molecules also
contain nitrogen (N) and
sometimes sulfur (S), like
proteins
• Some also contain nitrogen
(N) and phosphorus (P), like
nucleic acids
4.2 testing for biochemicals
• Scientists often need to know whether or not a
particular type of molecule is present in a solution
• For example, a doctor might try to detect glucose in
a urine sample (glucose in the urine suggests the
patient has diabetes), or an environmental scientist
might test for starch in the outflow from a food
factory
• There are a number of simple chemical tests that
can be carried out on biological solutions
A special test for
lipids
• An important feature of fats and oils is that they are insoluble in water
• This means that you cannot make an aqueous solution of a fat or oil on
which to carry out a biochemical test
• However, the fact that lipids are insoluble forms the basis of a physical
test (This is known as the emulsion test)
the emulsion test:
• 2 cm³ of ethanol are added to the unknown solution, and the mixture
is gently shaken.
• The mixture is poured into a test tube containing an equal volume of
distilled water.
• If a lipid is present, a milky-white emulsion is formed.