Water

Life on this planet began in H2O and is still sustained by it.

H2O is the most abundant material in any living organism,
representing about 2/3 of the total weight. H2O possesses
unique chemical and physical properties and
biological/biochemical systems have evolved to take
advantage of these properties. Lets talk about the structure of
a H2O molecule, examine 5 of these properties, and then look
at polarity and hydrogen bonds.
 Structure of the Water Molecule
Octet rule dictates that there are four electron pairs
around an oxygen atom in water
These electrons are in four sp3 orbitals
Two of these pairs covalently link two hydrogen atoms
to a central oxygen atom
The two remaining pairs remain nonbonding (lone
pairs)
Water geometry is a distorted tetrahedron
The electronegativity of the oxygen atom induces a net
dipole moment
Because of the dipole moment, water can serve as
both a hydrogen bond donor and acceptor
 Unique Properties of Water

1. High dielectric constant.

The capacity of system to insulate oppositely charged particles
from mutual attraction.

Coulombs Law F = e1 e2 / D r2
As you D, you F between 2 ions. At 25 oC, D of H2O is 80,
and for the very nonpolar solvent benzene, D is 2.3. Thus, ionic
interactions are much stronger in less polar environments and
H2O is very compatible with supporting an ionic environment.
Dielectric effect D
hexane 1.9
benzene 2.3
diethyl ether 4.3
CHCl3 5.1
acetone 21.4
ethanol 24
methanol 33
H2O 80
HCN 116
 Unique Properties of Water

2. Higher heat of vaporization.

The heat energy required to convert 1.0 g of a liquid at its
B.P. at atmospheric pressure, into a gaseous state at the
same temperature. As a biologist 540 cal/g, as a chemist
2,260 J/g. Remember the def. 1 cal required to raise the
temperature of 1 g of H2O 1 degree Celsius.
This property indicates liquid water has great internal
cohesion and allows an organism to cool itself by
dissipating a large quantity of heat through the
vaporization of a small amount of H2O.
 Unique Properties of Water

3. Higher boiling point.

4. Higher melting point.
5. Liquid water has a higher density than ice.
Why? E.g. The degree of the above properties is unique
when comparing H2O to other solvents and it is unique for
H2O when compared to the other hydrides of the Group VI
elements H2S, H2Se, H2Te. This uniqueness is derived from
the polarity and the H-bonding abilities of H2O molecules.
 Polarity of H2O

The polarity of H2O is basis for the high D of H2O.

O
/ \
+ H H +
Oxygen is the 3rd most avid e- acceptor. (1st & 2nd are ?).
This is a dipole (2 permanent dipoles in one H2O molecule)
and water is said to have a dipolar character.
 Polarity of H2O

H2O is an excellent solvent and dissolves a large

array of polar molecules.
However, it also weakens ionic and hydrogen
bonds
Therefore, biological systems sometimes exclude
H2O to form maximal strength bonds!!
 Hydrogen Bond Formation

Other properties of water can be explained by the

phenomena of hydrogen bonding.
Because of the 2 dipoles of the H 2O molecule, there is an
electrostatic attraction between the O atom of one water
molecule and the H of another. This attraction is called a H
bond. H bonds are relatively weak (bond energy of 4-7
kcal/mole) but any given volume of water will contain a
large number of H bonds. E.g. without H bonds, H 2O would
be expected to boil at -80 oC. We will see that H bonds are
common to many biological systems with the main
requirement being permanent dipoles.
A hydrogen bond between two
water molecules
 Importance of Hydrogen Bonds
Source of unique properties of water
Structure and function of proteins
Structure and function of DNA
Structure and function of polysaccharides
Binding of substrates to enzymes
Binding of hormones to receptors
Matching of mRNA and tRNA
Ibelievethatasthemethodsofstructuralchemistryarefurtherappliedto
physiologicalproblems,itwillbefoundthatthesignificanceofthehydrogenbond
forphysiologyisgreaterthanthatofanyothersinglestructuralfeature.
LinusPauling,TheNatureoftheChemicalBond,1939