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Transcript

PROPERTIES

of CARBON

Prepared by:

Petalio, Darryl P.

Transfiguracion, Jomar P.

Carbon is a Building of Life

Carbon is the Building Block of Life

Carbon is the most vital element for living beings, because all living organisms are constructed from compounds of carbon. Numerous pages would not be enough to describe the properties of the carbon atom, which is extremely important for our existence. Nor has the science of chemistry yet been able to

discover all of its properties. Here we will mention only a few of the very important properties of carbon.

One of the most significant properties of carbon is its ability to form chains very easily by lining carbon atoms up one after another. The shortest carbon chain is made up of two carbon atoms. Despite the unavailability of an exact figure on the number of carbons that make up the longest carbon chain, we can talk about a chain with seventy links. If we consider that the atom that can form the longest chain after the carbon atom is the silicon atom forming six links, the exceptional position of the carbon atom will be better understood.

The reason for carbon's ability to form chains with so many links is because its chains are not exclusively linear. Chains may be branched, as they may also form polygons.

At this point, the form of the chain plays a very important role. In two carbon compounds, for example, if the carbon atoms are the same in number yet combined in different forms of chains, two different substances are formed. The above mentioned characteristics of the carbon atom produce molecules that are critical for life.

Some carbon compounds molecules consist of just a few atoms; others contain thousands or even millions. Also, no other element is as versatile as carbon in forming molecules with such durability and stability.

The class of compounds formed exclusively from carbon and hydrogen are called "hydrocarbons". This is a huge family of compounds that include natural gas, liquid petroleum, kerosene, and lubricating oils.

Silicon Base Life

Similar chemical properties to Carbon

-Same number of electrons in the outer shell

-Four bonding sites

-can form complex molecules

-Both can form longs chains or

polymers

Most likely element as a

alternative to carbon.

Silicon is unstable or very reactive in many conformations

-aromatic rings, long chains, multi-ring chains

Obstacles Facing Silicon Based Life

Large silicon molecules

Large silicon molecules has never occurred in nature

-Largest silicon molecules found only consist of 6 silicon atoms

-will not be able to form large molecules such as proteins

-enzymes are a form of proteins, without enzymes, the chemical reactions will occur very slowly

Silicon lacks hilarity

Silicon lacks hilarity

-left and right handed conformation

-life as we know it utilizes only the right-hand sugars and the left-hand amino acids

-biochemical reactions for life are very specific

-”for many large bi-molecular are so precise that a single conformational change (right to left) around one carbon atom would block the reaction”

-Bob Hazen (NASA Astrobiology

Institute)

-limits the number of

different reactions

available.

Hydrocarbon

Hydrocarbon

A hydrocarbon is any of a class of organic chemicals made up of only the elements carbon (C) and hydrogen (H). The carbon atoms join together to form the framework of the compound, and the hydrogen atoms attach t to them in many different c configurations.

ISOMERS

SAME CHEMICAL FORMULA, BUT DIFFERENT BONDING, SHAPE OR ORIENTATION.

Isomers

ISOMERS

Functional Groups

a group of atoms/bonds that has a predictable chemical behavior

Functional Groups

Key Points

Functional groups are collections of atoms that attach the carbon skeleton of an organic molecule and confer specific properties.

Each type of organic molecule has its own specific type of functional group.

Key points

Functional groups in biological molecules play an important role in the formation of molecules like DNA, proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids.

Functional groups include: hydroxyl, methyl, carbonyl, carboxyl, amino, phosphate, and sulfhydryl.

Functional groups are groups of atoms that occur within organic molecules and confer specific chemical properties to those molecules. When functional groups are shown, the organic molecule is sometimes denoted as “R.”

Location

A functional group can participate in specific chemical reactions. Some of the important functional groups in biological molecules include: hydroxyl, methyl, carbonyl, carboxyl, amino, phosphate, and sulfhydryl groups. These groups play an important role in the formation of molecules like DNA, proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids.

Properties

Classifying

Functional groups are usually classified as hydrophobic or hydrophilic depending on their charge or polarity. An example of a hydrophobic group is the non-polar methane molecule. Among the hydrophilic functional groups is the carboxyl group found in amino acids, some amino acid side chains, and the fatty acid heads that form triglycerides and phospholipids.

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