Figure 2.1(A) shows raw fruit. The crisp, sharp-tasting fruit becomes soft and sweet when it is cooked. Figure 2.1(B) shows a chemist accelerating the tranformation of ethanol into ethanoic acid, by adding potassiumdichromate and sulfuric acid.What do these reactions have in common? They are both examples of organic reactions. In this section, you will take […]
Enzymes as Catalysts
Metabolic reactions need activation energy to either build or break down molecules. Cells also use special proteins that aid metabolic reactions. These proteins, called enzymes, work by speeding up a chemical reaction. This chemical activity increases the reaction rate, or rate at which a reaction occurs, measured in terms of reactant used or product formed […]
Functional Groups with the C_O Bond
Some of the most interesting and useful organic compounds belong to families you are about to encounter. For example, the sweet taste ofvanilla and the spicy scent of cinnamon have something in common: a carbonyl group. A carbonyl group is composed of a carbon atom doublebonded to an oxygen atom. In this section, you will […]
Enzymes and Energy
In the summer of 2001, a forest fire that had been started by a lightning strike raged through Kootenay National Park in British Columbia. Park officials allowed the fire to progress because the area was scheduled for a prescribed burn. Fires are a natural part of forest ecology and are important in forest regeneration. For […]
Making and Breaking Macromolecules
Large molecules can be broken down to release energy. Alternatively, they can be formed to build cellular structures or store information. In biological systems there are four major types of chemical reactions involved in breaking apart andbuilding molecules: acid-base or neutralization reactions, which transfer hydrogen ions between molecules, redox, or oxidation-reduction reactions, which transfer electrons […]
Making and Breaking Macromolecules
Large molecules can be broken down to releaseenergy. Alternatively, they can be formed to buildcellular structures or store information. Inbiological systems there are four major types ofchemical reactions involved in breaking apart andbuilding molecules:acid-base or neutralization reactions, whichtransfer hydrogen ions between molecules,redox, or oxidation-reduction reactions, whichtransfer electrons between molecules,hydrolysis reactions, in which molecules reactwith H2O […]
Single-Bonded Functional Groups
When you cut yourself, it is often a good idea to swab the cut with rubbing alcohol to disinfect it. Most rubbing alcohols that are sold in drugstores are based on 2-propanol (common name: isopropanol), C3H8O. You can also swab a cut with a rubbing alcohol based on ethanol, C2H6O. Often it is hard to […]
Hydrocarbons
In this section, you will review the structure and names of hydrocarbons. As you may recall from your previous chemistry studies, hydrocarbons are the simplest type of organic compound. Hydrocarbons are composedentirely of carbon and hydrogen atoms, and are widely used as fuels. Gasoline, propane, and natural gas are common examples of hydrocarbons. Because they […]
Biological Macromolecules and Their Subunits
The atoms of four elements make up roughly 99 percent of the mass of most cells: hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon, and oxygen. With only a few exceptions, molecules that contain carbon atoms are called organic compounds. There are millions of different organic compounds. Nearly all organic compounds contain hydrogen as well as carbon, and most of […]
Bonding and the Shape of Organic Molecules
Early scientists defined organic compounds as compounds that originate from living things. In 1828, however, the German chemist Friedrich Wohler (1800–1882) made an organic compound called urea, CO(NH2)2, out of aninorganic compound called ammonium cyanate, NH4CN. Urea is found in the urine of mammals. This was the first time in history that a compound normally […]