BIOL 110 1st Edition Lecture 11Reactions with protons: organic base - Most atoms cannot bind additional protons o Those that can will decrease H+ and act as bases - Major organic base is the amino group Reactions with Electrons - Oxidation- loss of electrons - Reduction – gain of electrons - One atom or molecule loses electron, another gains it o Conserved over all Redox reactions - Reduction/ oxidation reactions are always coupled o Redox o Ex) Na & Cl- Na+ Cl-, Na is oxidized - Redox reactions or organic compounds inside cells are the basis for all energy of living things - Non-photosynthetic organisms eat reduced organic compounds oxidize them and harvest the energy Energy + Reduction Food oxidation + Energy - More reduced compounds = more H for a given size - More oxidized have fewer H, more O Organic Molecules - Many organic molecules are complex o Complexity comes from carbons ability to make 4 covalent bonds o CHONS - All of life molecules could be synthesized by complexity chemical means Macromolecules - Small molecules often called metabolites, arts of metabolism - Large complex molecules are macromolecules o Usually covalent polymers of many monomers liked LINEARLY by covalent bonds Synthesis and Degradation - Synthesis involved loss of water in forming CB to join 2 monomers o Called condensation or dehydration synthesis- Degradation involved adding water across bond between 2 monomers to separate them o Hydrolysis - Polymers can be a few 100’s of millions subunits long o Human chromosome 1 has 247 nucleotide
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