Organic Compounds Research: Carbohydrates and Lipids

Name:
Biology
Institution:
Date:
Carbohydrates and Lipids
Carbon is mainly found in organic compounds. There are four main classes of organic compounds namely lipids, carbohydrates, proteins and nucleic acid. All the other classes apart but lipids are polymers. Carbohydrates are made up of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen and have a general formula of Cn(H2O)n. There are simple carbohydrates for example monosaccharides and complex ones for example polysaccharides. Basically, carbohydrates are categorized into three: monosaccharides, disaccharides, and polysaccharides.
Monosaccharides are characterized by a sweet taste, low molecular mass, and solubility nature. Usually, they are named with suffix-ose and have a general formula of (CH2O)n where n represents the number of carbon molecules. Monosaccharides are therefore classified using the n for example, when n=3, it is called triose, when n=4, it is called tetraose and so on.
Structurally, glucose has a formula of C6H12O6. Five carbon atoms contain a hydroxyl group. The other atom becomes part of aldehyde group. It can combine with other types of pentoses and hexoses to form ring structures that are stable. Linkage within the structure can happen to result to certain rings; pyranose and furanose. Pyranose Ring is created when the first carbon of glucose links with the oxygen on the fifth carbon. In the case of furanose, the second carbon of fructose is the one that combines with the oxygen of the fifth carbon. There are three types of single sugars namely; glucose, fructose, and galactose. Glucose is the simplest. It can combine with itself to form maltose, fructose to form sucrose and galactose to form lactose.
Disaccharides are formed by the combination of two monosaccharides under condensation reaction. The reaction results in a bond called glycosidically. However, through hydrolysis, a disaccharide can be split back to its constituent monosaccharides. In the case where some monosaccharides are combining through condensation, a polysaccharide is formed. When hydrolysis takes place, a polysaccharide can be used for respiration. Examples of polysaccharides are chitin, starch, glycogen, and cellulose.
Starch is made of amylase and amylopectin, found in most plant parts. It is formed during photosynthesis from excess glucose. Starch supplies food for germination in most seeds. Chitin is a component of exoskeletons of class insect and crustacean. Cellulose is more or less like chitin that is structurally and chemically. The only difference they possess is that cellulose has a hydroxyl group while chitin has an acetylamino group. Cellulose forms the structural material of a plant increasing stability. Glycogen is a storage structure for fungi and animals and is found in the...