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2.01:_Organic_Molecules
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<span id="Functional_groups"></span><span id="Functional_groups-2"></span><h2 style="background-color: unset;" class="lt-bio-3779">Functional groups</h2> <p class="lt-bio-3779" style="background-color: unset;">The various functional groups include:</p> <ul> <li class="lt-bio-3779" style="background-color: unset;">hydroxyl group (-OH)</li> <li class="lt-bio-3779" style="background-color: unset;">carboxyl group [-COOH]</li> <li class="lt-bio-3779" style="background-color: unset;">carbonyl group (-C=O)</li> <li class="lt-bio-3779" style="background-color: unset;">amino group -NH<sub><font size="2">2</font></sub></li> </ul> <span id="Organic_Molecules"></span><span id="Organic_Molecules-2"></span><h2 style="background-color: unset;" class="lt-bio-3779">Organic Molecules</h2> <p class="lt-bio-3779" style="background-color: unset;">Various organic molecules formed by these groups are as follows:</p> <span id="Alcohols"></span><span id="Alcohols-2"></span><h3 style="background-color: unset;" class="lt-bio-3779">Alcohols</h3> <p class="lt-bio-3779" style="background-color: unset;"><img class="internal right" style="width: 299px; height: 754px; float: right;" alt="Eight organic functional groups, with structural formulas and named example molecules." loading="lazy" width="299" height="754" src="https://bio.libretexts.org/@api/deki/files/5116/organics.png?revision=1&size=bestfit&width=299&height=754" aria-describedby="remedy-description-1e99f0327e04bcd1" /><span id="remedy-description-1e99f0327e04bcd1" data-remedy-image-description="1e99f0327e04bcd1" style="display: block; white-space: pre-line;">The chart highlights each functional group in red. Rows pair the group with an example: alcohol (???OH), ethyl alcohol or ethanol; carboxylic acid (???C(=O)OH), acetic acid; aldehyde (???C(=O)H), acetaldehyde; ether (???O??? between carbon groups), diethyl ether; ester (???C(=O)???O???), ethyl acetate; ketone (???C(=O)??? between carbon groups), acetone; amine (???NH2), ethylamine; amide (???C(=O)NH2), acetamide. Carbon and hydrogen bonds outside the highlighted groups are drawn in black.</span>Organic molecules with a <strong>hydroxyl group</strong> (-OH).</p> <p class="lt-bio-3779" style="background-color: unset;">Methanol [CH<sub><font size="2">3</font></sub>OH] and ethanol (beverage alcohol)[CH<sub><font size="2">3</font></sub>CH<sub><font size="2">2</font></sub>OH] are common examples.</p> <p class="lt-bio-3779" style="background-color: unset;">Sugars are also alcohols.</p> <span id="Carboxylic_Acids"></span><span id="Carboxylic_Acids-2"></span><h3 style="background-color: unset;" class="lt-bio-3779">Carboxylic Acids</h3> <p class="lt-bio-3779" style="background-color: unset;">Contain one or more <strong>carboxyl groups</strong> [-COOH].</p> <p class="lt-bio-3779" style="background-color: unset;">Many of the intermediates in the breakdown of foodstuffs by cellular respiration are carboxylic acids.</p> <span id="Aldehydes"></span><span id="Aldehydes-2"></span><h3 style="background-color: unset;" class="lt-bio-3779">Aldehydes</h3> <p class="lt-bio-3779" style="background-color: unset;">Contain a carbon atom to which is attached one hydrogen atom and — by a double bond — one oxygen atom.</p> <p class="lt-bio-3779" style="background-color: unset;">Formaldehyde [HCHO] is a powerful disinfectant and preservative (it denatures proteins).</p> <p class="lt-bio-3779" style="background-color: unset;">Acetaldehyde is produced during the conversion of pyruvic acid to ethanol when yeast ferment sugars. The converse is also true — acetaldehyde is produced in the liver as it metabolizes ingested ethanol (and may be the prime culprit in a "hangover").</p> <p class="lt-bio-3779" style="background-color: unset;">Phosphoglyceraldehyde is an intermediate in glycolysis and the "dark reaction" of photosynthesis</p> <span id="Ethers"></span><span id="Ethers-2"></span><h3 style="background-color: unset;" class="lt-bio-3779">Ethers</h3> <p class="lt-bio-3779" style="background-color: unset;">Formed when two carbon atoms are linked by an oxygen atom.</p> <p class="lt-bio-3779" style="background-color: unset;">Diethyl ether is a commonly-used anesthetic.</p> <span id="Esters"></span><span id="Esters-2"></span><h3 style="background-color: unset;" class="lt-bio-3779">Esters</h3> <p class="lt-bio-3779" style="background-color: unset;">The removal of a molecule of water between the -OH group of an alcohol and the -OH group of a</p> <ul> <li class="lt-bio-3779" style="background-color: unset;">carboxylic acid (-COOH) [shown in the diagram] or</li> <li class="lt-bio-3779" style="background-color: unset;">phosphoric acid</li> </ul> <p class="lt-bio-3779" style="background-color: unset;">produces an ester.</p> <ul> <li class="lt-bio-3779" style="background-color: unset;">Fats are triesters of three fatty acids and glycerol (the alcohol).</li> <li class="lt-bio-3779" style="background-color: unset;">Phospholipids are also esters.</li> <li class="lt-bio-3779" style="background-color: unset;"><strong>Nucleotides</strong> are esters of nucleosides and phosphoric acid.</li> <li class="lt-bio-3779" style="background-color: unset;">The nucleotides of DNA and RNA are linked by a double ester linkage called a <strong>phosphodiester</strong> bond.</li> </ul> <span id="Ketones"></span><span id="Ketones-2"></span><h3 style="background-color: unset;" class="lt-bio-3779">Ketones</h3> <p class="lt-bio-3779" style="background-color: unset;">Organic molecules with a <strong>carbonyl group</strong> (-C=O) between two hydrocarbon portions.</p> <p class="lt-bio-3779" style="background-color: unset;">Ketones are synthesized in the liver, usually from fatty acids.</p> <p class="lt-bio-3779" style="background-color: unset;">When glucose metabolism is suppressed, during starvation or in diabetics, fatty acids are used as a source of energy. But instead of entering the citric acid cycle, the <strong>acetyl-CoA</strong> produced from them is converted into the ketone acetoacetate. Some of this is then converted into <strong>acetone</strong> (which can be smelled on the breath of patients whose diabetes is out of control).</p> <span id="Amines"></span><span id="Amines-2"></span><h3 style="background-color: unset;" class="lt-bio-3779">Amines</h3> <p class="lt-bio-3779" style="background-color: unset;">Organic molecules with an <strong>amino group</strong>, -NH<sub><font size="2">2</font></sub>. Some examples:</p> <ul> <li class="lt-bio-3779" style="background-color: unset;">all the amino acids (lysine has two of them).</li> <li class="lt-bio-3779" style="background-color: unset;">the thyroid hormones thyroxine (T<sub><font size="2">4</font></sub>) and triiodothyronine (T<sub><font size="2">3</font></sub>)</li> <li class="lt-bio-3779" style="background-color: unset;">Many neurotransmitters: <ul> <li class="lt-bio-3779" style="background-color: unset;">adrenaline and noradrenaline</li> <li class="lt-bio-3779" style="background-color: unset;">dopamine</li> <li class="lt-bio-3779" style="background-color: unset;">serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine)</li> <li class="lt-bio-3779" style="background-color: unset;">histamine</li> </ul> </li> </ul> <span id="Amides"></span><span id="Amides-2"></span><h3 style="background-color: unset;" class="lt-bio-3779">Amides</h3> <p class="lt-bio-3779" style="background-color: unset;">Amides are organic molecules containing a carbonyl group (-C=O) attached to a nitrogen atom. The <strong>peptide bond</strong> between the amino acids linked in a polypeptide is also called an <strong>amide bond</strong>.</p> <span id="Contributors_and_Attributions"></span><span id="Contributors_and_Attributions-2"></span><h2 style="background-color: unset;" class="lt-bio-3779">Contributors and Attributions</h2> <p class="lt-bio-3779" style="background-color: unset;"></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><a title="http://www.biology-pages.info/" href="http://www.biology-pages.info/" target="_blank" rel="external noopener nofollow" class="external">John W. Kimball (biology-pages.info)</a>. 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