BIOMOLECULES

Bio molecules

Bio molecules are the complex lifeless organic

substances which build up living organisms and are
required for their growth and maintenance .
examples: carbohydrates , proteins ,enzymes ,nucleic
acids ,amino acids, fats, lipids ----etc
• These are interact with each other and constitute the
molecular logic of life process.
• The branch of science which deals with the study of
biomolecules and their role in living systems is called
Bio chemistry.
Carbohydrates
These are a class of naturally occurring organic
compounds of ‘C’, ‘H’ & O which are primarily
produced by plants .
These are ultimate source of most of our food
They can provide other basic necessities of our life
like clothing ,shelter .
The important carbohydrates are glucose
,fructose,sucrose,lactose,maltose,starch,cellulose----
etc
In the earlier days carbohydrates were regarded as the
hydrates of carbon with the G.F Cx(H2o)y
Glucose (C6H12O6),sucrose (C12H22O11),fructose
(C6H12O6) satisfied this formula. However ,this
definition is not hold good due to the following
reasons
A no. of compounds such as rhamnose (C6H12O5)
Deoxy ribose ( C5H10O4) etc are known which are
carbohydrates by their chemical behavior but do not
obey this formula.
There are other compounds like CH2O,CH3COOH etc
which do not behave like carbohydrates but have the
formula of hydrates of carbon.
Modern definition of carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are optically active polyhydroxy
aldehydes or polyhydroxy ketones or compounds
which give such compounds on hydrolysis .
Carbohydrates are also called saccharides
Greek (sakcharan means sugar)
Classification of carbohydrates
Generally classified in two types
1) Sugar:
these are crystalline substances ,which are sweet
and water soluble
ex: glucose ,sucrose ,fructose
2) non-sugars
these are tasteless, insoluble in water and
amorphous
ex : starch cellulose
Systematic classification of carbohydrates
1) Monosaccharides :
These are simplest carbohydrates which can not be
hydrolyzed in to simpler compounds .
Ex: glucose fructose, ribose
Nearly 20 monosaccharides are known to occur in
nature
2) Oligosaccharides :
These are carbohydrates which give 2 to 10
monosaccharides molecules on hydrolysis .
These are further classified as disaccharides ,tri
saccharides, tetra saccharides ---etc depending up on
the number of monosaccharide units present in their
molecules
For ex:
Disaccharides :sucrose, lactose, maltose
tri saccharides : raffinose
Tetra saccharides :stachyose
NOTE:
Up on hydrolysis ,the oligo saccharides give mono
saccharides .These mono saccharides obtained on
hydrolysis of oligosaccharides may be same or
different
For example
 sucrose H2o glucose + fructose

Maltose H2o glucose + glucose

Raffinose H2O glucose +fructose+ galactose

3) Polysaccharides :
These are carbohydrates which are polymeric and can
be hydrolyzed to give a large number of
monosaccharide units
EX: CELLULOSE ,STARCH ,GLYCOGEN etc
Aldoses and ketoses
If the carbohydrate contain aldehydic group ,they are
named as aldoses and if they have ketonic group ,they
are commonly called ketoses.
Note:
monosaccharides are further classified as
trioses,tetroses,pentoses, hexoses,heptoses---- etc
depending upon the no.of carbon atoms they
contain.
For ex: an aldopentose means that it is an aldehydic
carbohydrate containing five carbon atoms.
ll’y ketohexoses means a ketonic carbohydrate containing
six carbon atoms
Glucose
Preparation methods:

1) From sucrose:
C12H22O11 + H2O H^+ C6H12O6 + C6H12O6
sucrose glucose fructose

2) From starch:

(C6H10O5)n + n H2O H^+ n C6H12O6

starch 393K , 2-3atm glucose
Structure of glucose
The structure was assigned on the basis of the following
evidences

1) Molecular formula : the molecular formula has been

found to be C6H12O6

2) Straight chain structure:

a) glucose HI n-hexane
Red “P”
b) Glucose + reducing agent  sorbitol
Two reactions indicate that all the six carbon atoms are
arranged in a straight chain structure .
Presence of five hydroxyl groups:
Presence of carbonyl group:
Glucose reacts with hydroxylamine to form an oxime
Glucose react with hydrogen cyanide to give
cyanohydrin.
These reactions confirm the presence of a carbonyl
group (>C = 0) in glucose.
presence of aldehyde:
Presence of primary alcholic group
On the basis of the above reactions ,Fischer assigned
an open chain structure of glucose shown below as
structure-I .Similarly gluconic acid and saccharic acid
represented as structure –II & III .Glucose is correctly
named as D(+)-glucose .
 D represents configuration
 + - represents dextro rotatory nature of molecule
D and L- designations:
By convention
a molecule is assigned with D- configuration if the -OH
group attached to the carbon adjacent to –CH2OH
group (last chiral carbon) is on the right hand side
irrespective of the position of the other groups.

On the other hand the molecule is assigned L-

configuration if the –OH group attached to the carbon
adjacent to the -CH2OH group is on the left hand
side
Cyclic structure of glucose :
The following reactions and facts could not be
explained by open chain structure.
When glucose is heated with methanol in the presence
of dry HCl gas ,it gives two isomeric mono methyl
derivatives known as methyl-α-D- glucoside and
methyl-β-D- glucoside .
Glucose + CH3OH -- (C6H11O5)OCH3 +H2O
methyl-α&-β-D- glucoside
These two glucoside do not reduce the Fehilings solution
and also do not react with HCN indicating the free –
CHO group not present. since only one molecule of
methanol is used for the formation of methyl
glucoside ,there must be hemiacetals.These results
shows that glucose does not have open chain
structure .
Anomers, pyranose or Haworth projection formulae
How to write the pyranose structure
To write the pyranose structure for any mono saccharide
Draw a hexagon with its oxygen atom at upper right
hand corner
The terminal –CH2OH group is always placed above
the plane of the hexagon ring(in D-series)
Place all the groups (on C1,C2,C3,C4) which are
present on the left hand side in fischer projection
above the plane of the ring
All the groups on the right hand side write below the
plane of the ring.
Fructose :
It is a keto hexoses
It is obtained as one of the product of hydrolysis of sucrose.
Molecular formula is C6H12O6
It does not give silver mirror test and Fehilings test indicates
it has no aldehyde functional group
Fructose+ conc.HNO3 Glycolic acid +tartaric acid
Fructose+HCN  Fructosecyanohydrin
i)H2O
ii)HI/p

2-methylhexanoicacid
The above reactions indicates fructose is a 2-keto compounds
Glucose and fructose give one and same product
known as osazone with phenylhydrazine.the
configuration of remaining carbons(C3,C4,C5,C6) in
fructose and glucose must be identical.
It is also belongs to D-series and is aleavo rotatory
compounds.therfore it is written as D-(-)-fructose
Fructose
Furanose form of fructose
sucrose:
It is a disaccharide
Widely distributed in plants
Colorless ,crystalline and sweet substance
Highly soluble in water
It aq.solution is dextro rotatory(+66.5)
 sucrose + H2O HCl D-(+)-Glucose + D-(-) fructose

D-(-) –fructose(-92.4) has a greater specific rotation than D-

(+)-glucose(+52.5).therefore the resultant solution is leavo
rotatory in nature .since there is a change in sign of rotation
from dextro before hydrolysis to leavo after hydrolysis .hence
the reaction is called inversion reaction and the mixture is
called inversion sugar
Structure of fructose
It is composed of α-D-(+) Glucose and β-D-(-)-
fructose
These units are held together by α,β-glycosidic linkage
between C1 of the glucose unit and C2 of the fructose
unit.
Maltose :
It is called as malt sugar
It is the principal disaccharide obtained by the partial
hydrolysis of starch by diastase enzyme present in
the malt
2 (C6H10O5)n + n H2O----- n C12H22O11
Hydrolysis of maltose gives 2 moles of α-D-Glucose
It is a reducing sugar
It is composed of two α-D-Glucose units which are
condensed together through C1 of one unit and C4 of
the other unit .both the glucose are in the pyranose
forms
Structure of maltose
Lactose
Occurs in milk so it is also caleed as milk sugar
Lactose + H2O β-D-glucose + β-D-galactose
Reducing sugar
It is composed of β-D-glucose and β-D-galactose
These units are held together by glycosidic linkage
between C1 of galactose and C4 of the glucose unit
Starch :
It is an important dietary source for human beings
It is the main storage polysaccharide in plants
Main sources are wheat, rice, maize, potatoes, barley,
roots, tubers--- etc
It is a white powder and insoluble in cold water
Non reducing sugar
It is a polymer of α-D-glucose unit
It consist of two components
i) amylose(15-20%)
ii) Amylopectin(80-85%)
AMYLOSE
It is a water soluble fraction
It is a linear polymer of α-D-glucose unit
It contains about 200-1000 α-D-glucose units which
linked to one another through α-glysodic linkage
involving C1 of one glucose and C4 of the next.

AMYLOPECTIN
It is a water insoluble fraction
It is highly branched chain polymer
It consist of a large no.of short chain of 25-30D-glucose
units
In this case main chain involves α-linkages between C1
of one α-D-glucose unit and C4 of the other
The C1 terminal glucose in each chain is further linked
to C6 of the other glucose unit in the next chain
through C1-C6 α-linkage .This gives highly branched
chain structure .
Structure of amylopectin
cellulose
It occurs exclusively in plants
Probably the most abundant organic substance in
found in nature
It is not easily hydrolyzed but on heating with
dil.H2SO4 ,under pressure gives D-glucose
Structurally it is a straight chain polysaccharide
composed of only β-D-glucose units which are joined
by β-glycosidic linkages between C1 of one glucose
unit and C4 of the other glucose unit.

Structure of cellulose
Glycogen
Aminoacids
Amino acids are organic compounds containing
both amino(-NH2) & carboxyl (-COOH) functional
group.
CLASSIFICATION OF AMINOACIDS:
Depending up on the relative position of amino group
with respect to functional group ,the aminoaccids can
be classified as α,β,γ,δ. ---
Nearly all the naturally occuring aminoacids are α-
amino acids .
Neutral, acidic & basic aminoacids
Neutral aminoacids contain equal number of amino
and carboxyl groups.
ex: glycine, alanine,valine

Acidic aminoacids contain more number of carboxyl

groups than amino groups.
Ex: aspartic acid, asparagine acid
Basic aminoacids contain more number of amino
groups than carboxyl groups.
Ex: lysine arrginine,histidine
ESSENTIAL & NON ESSENTIAL AMINO ACIDS:
Certain amino acids can be made by our bodies
and,therfore ,we do not require them in our diet. These
are called non-essential aminoacids .the human body
can synthesis 10 to 20 aminoacids found in proteins
Therefore other must be supplied to our diet and these
are called essential amino acids . There are 10
essential aminoacids .
These essential aminoacids are required for the growth
of our body and lack of these essential aminoacids in
diet cause diseases such as kwashiorkor.
Physical properties
Colorless crystalline solids
Soluble in water
High M.P
Behave like rather than simple amines or carboxylic
acids due to presence of both amino and acidic group
in the same molecule .The amino acid exist as dipolar
ion called a zwitter ion.It has positive as well as
negative ion with in the same molecule.
Peptides and proteins
Peptides are compounds formed by the condensation
of two or more same or different α-aminoacids.
The condensation occurs with elimination of water .
Carboxyl group of one amino acid and amine group of
another amino acid condensed with elimination of
water molecule .the resulting –CO-NH- linkage is
called peptide linkage or peptide bond
vitamins
These are complex organic compounds which can not
be produced by the body and they must be supplied in
small amounts in diet to perform specific biological
function for the normal health ,growth and
maintenance of the body.
Essential for proper functioning of organs
Absence of these cause various
diseases(AVITAMINOSES)
Classification of vitamins
Water soluble vitamins:
 the vitamins which are soluble in water are called
water soluble vitamins
ex: vitamin-B ,VITAMIN-C
 Must be supplied in our regular diet
Can not be stored in body
Fat soluble vitamin:
the vitamins which are soluble in Fat are called Fat
soluble vitamins.
EX:vitamin A,D,E,K
PROTEINS
These are complex nitrogenous molecules which are
essential for the growth and maintenance of life
These perform various bilogical reactions
Proteins are the constituents of cell
Present in living bodies
Molecular mass is very high
Structurally proteins are long polymers of aminoacids
linked by peptide bonds .
Classification of proteins
Based on molecular structure
1) Fibrous proteins:
 These type proteins consist of linear thread like
molecules which tend to lie side by side to form fibres.
 Molecules are held together by hydrogen bonds or
disulphide bonds .
 Insoluble in water and soluble in strong acids and
bases.
 Ex:keratin( skin, hair ,nails), myosin (muscle)
 Serve as the main structural material of animal
tissues
Globular proteins
In this type of proteins ,the molecules are folded
together into complex units forming spheroidal shape.
Peptide chains are held together by hydrogen bonds
.but these bonds are somewhat comparatively weak.
Soluble in water or aq.solution of acids and bases
Acts as enzyme ,antibodies and regulate the metabolic
activities
Primary structure of protein
It may have one or more poly peptide chains
Each polypeptide chain in a protein has aminoacids
linked with each other in a specific sequence
Any change in sequence of amino acids creates a
different protein.
Secondary structure of protein
It refers the shape in which a long peptide chain can
exist
They are found to exist in two different types
ofstructures
α-helix & β-pleated structures
These are arises due to the regular folding of the back
bone of the polypeptide chain due to hydrogen
bonding between -co-and –NH- groups of th peptide
bond.
α-helix-is one of the most common ways in which a
polypeptide chain forms all possible hydrogen bonds
by twisting in to right handed screw.
H-bonding is formed between –NH – group of one
amino acid and –CO- group of another aminoa cid in
the structure.
β-pleated structure, all the peptide chains are
stretched out nearly maximum extension and then laid
side by side which are held together by H-bonding
between chains .the structure resembles the pleated
folds of drapery.
Tertiary structure of protein
Represents overall folding of ploy peptide chains i.e
further folding of the secondary structure.
It gives two major molecular shapes
One is fibrous proteins
Globular proteins
These are stabilized by h-bonding ,disulphide
linkage,vaderwallforces,electro static force of
attraction
Quaternary structure of protein
Some of the proteins are composed of two or more
polypeptide chains referred to as sub unit .
The spatial arrangement of these sub units with
respect to each other is known as quaternary structure
of protein.
Nucleic acids
Generation of each and every species resembles its
ancestors in many ways .
This is because of nucleus of a living cell is responsible
for this transmission of inherent characters, called
heredity
Particles in the nucleus cell are responsible for heredity
are called chromosomes which are made up of proteins
and another type of bio molecules called nucleic acids.
These are two types
Deoxyribonucleic acid(DNA)
RIBONUCLEIC ACID(RNA)
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF NUCLEIC ACID
Nucleic acids are treated as poly nucleotides
Nucleotide:
It consist of three chemical components
1) A nitrogen containing hetreo cyclic base
2) A five carbon sugar
3) A phosphate group
nitrogen containing hetreo cyclic base
A Five carbon sugars
Phosphate group
nucleoside
Base + sugar = nucleoside

IN DNA
In RNA
The nucleosides of RNA and DNA differ in two respects
1) the sugar
2) the nucleoside of RNA contains uracil base in the
place of thymine present in DNA

The nucleoside are named based upon the base present

as
Adenine ---------adenosine
Guanine---------guanosine
Cytosine--------cytidine
Thymine------------thymidine
Uracil--------------uridine
Nucleotide
Base + sugar +phosphate = nucleotide
Nucleoside + phosphate = nucleotide
Nucleotides are joined together by phospho diester
linkages between 5’ and 3’ carbon atoms of pentose
sugar.
Structural features of DNA&RNA
Information regarding the sequence of nucleotides in the
chain of nucleic acid is called primary structure.
James Watson and Francis crick gave a double helix
structure for DNA .
Two nucleic acid chains are wound about each other and
held together by H-bonds and formed between pairs of
specific bases
 A-T(2 –H-bonds) ,C-G (3-H-bonds)
The structure of RNA is similar to DNA except that it is a
single standard structure .sometimes they fold back on
themselves to form double helix structure
Three types messenger –RNA ,ribosomal –RNA, transfer-
RNA
Harmones
These are molecules that acts as intercellular
messengers. These are produced by endocrine glands
in the body and are released directly into the blood
stream which transport them to the site of action.
Ex:estrogen,androgens insulin endorphins
epinephrine, norepinephrine
These help to maintain the balance of biological
activities in the body
Insulin :keeping the blood glucose level with in the
limit
Glucagon increase the glucose level in the blood
Thyroxine
Produced in thyroid gland
It is an iodinated derivative of amino acid tyrosine
Low level of thyroxine leads to hypothyroidism(low level of
iodine in diet)---obesity,lethargyness
Increased level thyroxine -----hyperthyroidism
Steroid hormones:
Produced by adrenal cortex and gonads(testes in males
&ovaries in females) .
Adrenal cortex play very important role in the functions of the
body
For ex:gluccocorticoids—control the carbohydrate metabolism
modulate the inflammatory reactions control the stress
Adrenal cortex is not function properly results
diseases addisons disease characterised by
hypoglycemia, weakness and increasing the stress.
Hormones released by gonads are responsible for the
secondary sex characteristics
In males ---testosterone—(deep voice,facial hair,
general physical constitution)
In females--Estardiol-----participates in the control
menstrual cycle
Progesterone -----preparing the uterus for implantation
of pertilised egg