This document provides an overview of key biomolecules including carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, and their subcategories. Carbohydrates include simple sugars like glucose and fructose, as well as complex carbohydrates like starches and glycogen which are polymers of simple sugars. Proteins are polymers of amino acids joined by peptide bonds. Lipids include fats, which are triglycerides composed of glycerol bonded to three fatty acids, and serve as concentrated energy stores. These biomolecules are essential building blocks of living organisms.

1. Biochemistry
Lysozyme –
a protein

2. Chemical Bonds
Covalent bonds form between atoms
of nonmetals by sharing of electrons
- Molecules bond covalenty
Ionic bonds form between oppositely
charged ions after the transfer of
electrons
- Salts bond ionically

3. Organic Molecules
Organic molecules are molecules
composed of carbon and
hydrogen, and often containing
other elements such as
phosphorus, sulfur, oxygen and
nitrogen

4. Elements of Life
Carbon
Hydrogen
Phosphorus
Sulfur
Oxygen
Nitrogen
Six elements
make up 96%
of your mass!

5. Carbohydrates
There are two types of carbohydrates:
 The simple sugars
 Glucose, sucrose, fructose (and many others)
 The complex carbohydrates.
 Carbohydrates that are made of long chains of
sugars
 Starches, cellulose, glycogen

6. Simple Sugars
 All carbohydrates
are made up of units
of sugar (also called
saccharide units).
 Carbohydrates that
contain only one
sugar unit are called
monosaccharides.
Glucose Fructose

7. Simple Sugars
 Disaccharides have two sugar units bonded
together.
 For example, common table sugar is sucrose
(below), a disaccharide that consists of a
glucose unit bonded to a fructose unit.

8. Complex Carbohydrates
 Complex carbohydrates are polymers of
the simple sugars.
 In other words, the complex
carbohydrates are long chains of simple
sugar units bonded together.
 For this reason the complex
carbohydrates are often referred to as
polysaccharides.

9. Complex Carbohydrates
Starch (below) is a polymer of the monosaccharide
glucose (n is the number of repeating glucose
units and ranges in the 1,000's).
Starches and cellulose are complex carbohydrates
used by plants for energy storage and structural
integrity.

10. Complex Carbohydrates
Glycogen, another polymer of glucose, is a
polysaccharide used by animals to store energy.
Both starch and glycogen are polymers of
glucose.
Starch is a long, straight chain of glucose units,
whereas glycogen is a branched chain of glucose
units.

11. Structure of Glycogen

12. Proteins
o Proteins are polymers of
amino acids.
o Amino acids all have the
general structure:
o The R in the diagram
represents a functional
group that varies depending
on the specific amino acid
in question.

13. Twenty amino
acids in
human
metabolism

14. Proteins
When 2 amino acids bond
together, water is
released as the carboxyl
end of one amino acid
bonds to the amine end of
the adjacent one forming
a peptide bond, as
illustrated at the left.
Because water is lost, the process is called:
 Condensation synthesis, or…
 Condensation polymerization

15. Proteins
When many amino acids bond together to create long
chains, the structure is called a protein (it is also
called a polypeptide because it contains many peptide
bonds).

16. Proteins
 Proteins are large molecules that may
consist of hundreds, or even thousands
of amino acids.
 Proteins are important in cell structure,
as enzymes, which speed up reactions in
the body, and as antibodies which fight
infection

17. Insulin

18. Fats
Fats are a sub-group of compounds
known as lipids that are found in the
body and have the general property of
being hydrophobic (meaning they are
insoluble in water).
Other lipids include waxes, and steroids,
such as cholesterol.

19. Fats
Fats are also known as triglycerides, molecules
made from the combination of one molecule of
glycerol with three fatty acids.
Glycerol Fatty
acids
Triglyceride
“R” is a
long
chain of
carbon
and
hydrogen

20. Fats
 Fats are concentrated forms of
energy storage
 9 calories per gram
 Fats are components of cell
membranes