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Terms:
● Polymer: A large molecule made up of many identical small molecules (monomers)
bonded together.
● Monomer: A small molecule that can be bonded to other similar molecules to form a
polymer.
● Macromolecule: A very large complex molecule, such as proteins, nucleic acids,
carbohydrates, or lipids.
● Condensation reaction: A chemical reaction where two molecules combine to form a
larger molecule, with elimination of a small molecule (commonly water).
● Hydrolysis: The breaking of chemical bonds between two molecules by the insertion of a
water molecule. Hydrolysis is commonly used to cleave polymers into monomers.
● Carbohydrate: Biochemical compounds containing carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms
that are primarily consumed as a source of energy, such as sugars and starch.
● Monosaccharide: The simplest form of carbohydrate or sugar molecule, including
glucose or fructose.
● Disaccharide: A sugar consisting of two monosaccharides that are joined together, such
as sucrose or lactose.
● Polysaccharide: A carbohydrate polymer with many monosaccharides, such as starch,
glycogen, or cellulose.
● Glycosidic linkage: The covalent bond formed between two sugar molecules by a
condensation reaction.
● Starch: A polysaccharide, composed of glucose monomers, used by plants as an energy
store.
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● Lipid: A group of organic compounds that are insoluble in water but soluble in organic
solvents. Lipids include fats, oils, and phospholipids.
● Phospholipid: a type of lipid that contains a phosphate group; makes up the bilayer of the
cell membrane
● Steroid: a type of lipid that contains a ring structure; includes testosterone and cholesterol
● Ester linkage: formed between a hydroxyl group and carboxyl group, commonly found in
lipids
● Protein: a macromolecule of amino acids joined by peptide bonds; provides structure and
function for cells.
● Amino acid: Molecule composing proteins, including a central carbon atom, an amino
group, a carboxyl group, and a variable R group.
● Polypeptide: Polymer of amino acids connected by peptide bonds.
● Peptide bond: Covalent bond that links amino acids together in a protein.
● Primary structure: Sequence of amino acids in a protein.
● Secondary structure: The local folding patterns of a protein, including alpha-helices and
beta-pleated sheets, stabilized by hydrogen bonds.
● Tertiary structure: The overall three-dimensional shape of a protein, determined by
interactions between side chains (R groups).
● Quaternary structure: The structure formed by several polypeptide chains that function as
a single protein unit (for example, hemoglobin).
● Nucleic acid: A macromolecule composed of nucleotides that stores and transmits genetic
information. Examples include DNA and RNA.
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● Nucleotide: The building block (monomer) of nucleic acids, comprising three
constituents: a phosphate group, a five-carbon sugar (ribose or deoxyribose), and a
nitrogenous base.
● Pyrimidine: A nitrogenous base that is a pyrimidine, a ring structure composed of one
ring. Examples include cytosine (C), thymine (T), and uracil (U).
● Purine: A nitrogenous base that is a purine. Purines are double-ring structures. Examples
include adenine (A) and guanine (G).
● DNA: It is a double-stranded nucleic acid that contains genetic information found within
the cell. It uses adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), and thymine (T) as bases.
● RNA: It is a single-stranded nucleic acid responsible for the transmission of genetic
information during protein synthesis, and with uracil instead of thymine, it contains
adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C).
● Phosphodiester bond: A type of covalent bond that connects the phosphate group of one
nucleotide with the sugar of another, thus becoming the backbone of nucleic acids.
