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Lecture Presentation 04

The document discusses how carbon's ability to form four bonds allows it to create a diverse range of organic molecules, which are the building blocks of life. It examines key concepts like carbon skeletons, isomers, and functional groups that influence molecular structure and properties. The document also explores how early organic molecules may have formed and contributed to the origins of life on Earth.

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25 views44 pages

Lecture Presentation 04

The document discusses how carbon's ability to form four bonds allows it to create a diverse range of organic molecules, which are the building blocks of life. It examines key concepts like carbon skeletons, isomers, and functional groups that influence molecular structure and properties. The document also explores how early organic molecules may have formed and contributed to the origins of life on Earth.

Uploaded by

heatherofnyc
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Chapter 4

Carbon and the


Molecular
Diversity of Life

Lecture Presentations by
Nicole Tunbridge and
© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc. Kathleen Fitzpatrick
Figure 4.1

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


Figure 4.1a

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


CONCEPT 4.1: Organic chemistry is key to the
origin of life
• Organic chemistry is the study of compounds that
contain carbon, regardless of origin
• Organic compounds range from simple molecules to
colossal ones

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


Organic Molecules and the Origin of Life on
Earth
• Stanley Miller’s classic experiment demonstrated
the abiotic synthesis of organic compounds
• Experiments support the idea that abiotic synthesis
of organic compounds, perhaps near volcanoes,
could have been a stage in the origin of life

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


Figure 4.2

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


• The overall percentages of the major elements of
life—C, H, O, N, S, and P—are quite uniform from
one organism to another
• Because carbon can form four bonds, these
building blocks can be used to make an
inexhaustible variety of organic molecules
• The great diversity of organisms on the planet is
due to the versatility of carbon

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


CONCEPT 4.2: Carbon atoms can form diverse
molecules by bonding to four other atoms
• Electron configuration is the key to an atom’s
chemical characteristics
• Electron configuration determines the kinds and
number of bonds an atom will form with other
atoms

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


The Formation of Bonds with Carbon
• With four valence electrons, carbon can form four
covalent bonds with a variety of atoms
• This enables carbon to form large, complex
molecules
• In molecules with multiple carbons, each carbon
bonded to four other atoms has a tetrahedral shape
• However, when two carbon atoms are joined by a
double bond, the atoms joined to the carbons are
in the same plane as the carbons

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


Figure 4.3

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


• The number of unpaired electrons in the valence
shell of an atom is generally equal to its valence,
the number of covalent bonds it can form

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


Figure 4.4

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


• The electron configuration of carbon gives it
covalent compatibility with many different elements
• The most frequent bonding partners of carbon are
hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


Molecular Diversity Arising from Variation
in Carbon Skeletons
• Carbon atoms can partner with atoms other than
hydrogen, such as the following:
– Carbon dioxide: CO2
O O

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


– Urea: CO(NH2)2

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


– Carbon atoms can also be linked into chains as
shown for C3H8

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


• Carbon chains form the skeletons of most organic
molecules
• Carbon chains vary in length and shape

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


Figure 4.5

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


Animation: Diversity of Carbon-Based
Molecules

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


Hydrocarbons
• Hydrocarbons are organic molecules consisting of
only carbon and hydrogen
• Many organic molecules, such as fats, have
hydrocarbon components
• Hydrocarbons can undergo reactions that release a
large amount of energy

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


Figure 4.6

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


Isomers
• Isomers are compounds with the same molecular
formula but different structures and properties
– Structural isomers have different covalent
arrangements of their atoms
– Cis-trans isomers (also called geometric isomers)
have the same covalent bonds but differ in their
spatial arrangements
– Enantiomers are isomers that are mirror images
of each other

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


Figure 4.7

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


Animation: Isomers

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


• Enantiomers are important in the pharmaceutical
industry
• Two enantiomers of a drug may have different
effects
• Often only one enantiomer is biologically active
• Differing effects of enantiomers demonstrate that
organisms are sensitive to even subtle variations
in molecules

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


Figure 4.8

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


CONCEPT 4.3: A few chemical groups are key to
molecular function
• Distinctive properties of organic molecules depend
on the carbon skeleton and the chemical groups
attached to it
• These groups help give each molecule its unique
properties

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


The Chemical Groups Most Important in the
Processes of Life
• Estradiol and testosterone are both steroids with
a common carbon skeleton, in the form of four
fused rings
• These sex hormones differ only in the chemical
groups attached to the rings of the carbon skeleton

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


UNF04-06

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


• Functional groups are the components of organic
molecules that are most commonly involved in
chemical reactions
• The number and arrangement of functional groups
give each molecule its unique properties

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


• The seven functional groups that are most
important in the chemistry of life are the following:
– Hydroxyl group
– Carbonyl group
– Carboxyl group
– Amino group
– Sulfhydryl group
– Phosphate group
– Methyl group

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


Figure 4.9

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


Animation: Functional Groups

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


ATP: An Important Source of Energy for Cellular
Processes
• An important organic phosphate is adenosine
triphosphate (ATP)
• ATP consists of an organic molecule called
adenosine attached to a string of three phosphate
groups
• ATP stores the potential to react with water
• This reaction releases energy that can be used by
the cell

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


UNF04-07

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


UNF04-08

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


The Chemical Elements of Life: A Review
• The versatility of carbon makes possible the great
diversity of organic molecules
• Variation at the molecular level lies at the
foundation of all biological diversity on our planet

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


Figure 4.UN01a

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


Figure 4.UN01b

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


Figure 4.UN08

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


Figure 4.UN09

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


Figure 4.UN10

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


Figure 4.UN11

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.


Figure 4.UN12

© 2021 Pearson Education, Inc.

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