Carbon Compounds Overview

Organic compounds consist of carbon atoms bonded to other carbon atoms.
Inorganic compounds generally do not contain carbon, with carbon dioxide being a notable exception.

Carbon has four valence electrons, allowing it to form strong and stable covalent bonds.
It can create four covalent bonds with other carbon atoms and elements like oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus.
Carbon forms versatile structures, including straight chains, branched chains, or rings.
Carbon chains can vary dramatically in length, enabling vast structural diversity in molecules.
The self-bonding capability of carbon leads to an extensive variety of organic compounds.
The three-dimensional shape of carbon molecules is crucial for their properties and functions in biological systems.
Carbon compounds have low solubility in water.
Carbon is abundant and widely available in nature.
No other element possesses all these characteristics, making carbon unique.

Functional groups are specific atom clusters attached to carbon "skeletons," influencing molecular shape and reactivity.
Each functional group has a distinct role in chemical reactions.
Four key functional groups important for living organisms:
- Hydroxyl (–OH)
- Carboxyl (–COOH)
- Amino (–NH₂)
- Phosphate (–PO₄)

Macromolecules are large molecules formed by linking smaller ones.
Four primary classes of macromolecules: carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids.
Macromolecules are created through polymerization, where small units join to create larger compounds.
Monomers are the building blocks that combine to form polymers.
Polymers have repetitive structural units connected by covalent bonds; for example, starch is a polymer made from glucose monomers.
Macromolecules are continuously synthesized and degraded within living cells via condensation and hydrolysis reactions.

A condensation reaction connects monomers to form polymers, removing a water molecule in the process.
One monomer provides a hydroxyl group, while the other supplies a hydrogen atom.
Energy expenditure is required to drive condensation reactions.
Enzymes facilitate these reactions.

Hydrolysis breaks polymers down into monomers, essentially reversing the condensation process.
Water is used in hydrolysis to cleave bonds linking monomers.
An example of hydrolysis is digestion, where large food polymers are reduced to smaller monomers, which enter cells and can be reassembled into new polymers through condensation.

A vast array of polymers can be constructed from a limited number of monomers.
Approximately 40 to 50 common monomers are used universally by living organisms to form macromolecules.
This phenomenon is analogous to creating thousands of words from a limited set of alphabet letters.

Organic compounds consist of carbon atoms bonded to other carbon atoms.
Inorganic compounds generally do not contain carbon, with carbon dioxide being a notable exception.

Carbon has four valence electrons, allowing it to form strong and stable covalent bonds.
It can create four covalent bonds with other carbon atoms and elements like oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus.
Carbon forms versatile structures, including straight chains, branched chains, or rings.
Carbon chains can vary dramatically in length, enabling vast structural diversity in molecules.
The self-bonding capability of carbon leads to an extensive variety of organic compounds.
The three-dimensional shape of carbon molecules is crucial for their properties and functions in biological systems.
Carbon compounds have low solubility in water.
Carbon is abundant and widely available in nature.
No other element possesses all these characteristics, making carbon unique.

Functional groups are specific atom clusters attached to carbon "skeletons," influencing molecular shape and reactivity.
Each functional group has a distinct role in chemical reactions.
Four key functional groups important for living organisms:
- Hydroxyl (–OH)
- Carboxyl (–COOH)
- Amino (–NH₂)
- Phosphate (–PO₄)

Macromolecules are large molecules formed by linking smaller ones.
Four primary classes of macromolecules: carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids.
Macromolecules are created through polymerization, where small units join to create larger compounds.
Monomers are the building blocks that combine to form polymers.
Polymers have repetitive structural units connected by covalent bonds; for example, starch is a polymer made from glucose monomers.
Macromolecules are continuously synthesized and degraded within living cells via condensation and hydrolysis reactions.

A condensation reaction connects monomers to form polymers, removing a water molecule in the process.
One monomer provides a hydroxyl group, while the other supplies a hydrogen atom.
Energy expenditure is required to drive condensation reactions.
Enzymes facilitate these reactions.

Hydrolysis breaks polymers down into monomers, essentially reversing the condensation process.
Water is used in hydrolysis to cleave bonds linking monomers.
An example of hydrolysis is digestion, where large food polymers are reduced to smaller monomers, which enter cells and can be reassembled into new polymers through condensation.

A vast array of polymers can be constructed from a limited number of monomers.
Approximately 40 to 50 common monomers are used universally by living organisms to form macromolecules.
This phenomenon is analogous to creating thousands of words from a limited set of alphabet letters.