A living system grows, sustains and reproduces itself. The most amazing thing about a living system is that it is composed of non-living atoms and molecules. The pursuit of knowledge of what goes on chemically within
a living system falls in the domain of biochemistry. Living systems are made up of various complex biomolecules like carbohydrates, proteins, nucleic acids, lipids, etc. Proteins and carbohydrates are essential constituents of our food. These biomolecules interact with each other and constitute the molecular logic of life processes. In addition, some simple molecules like vitamins and mineral salts also play an important role in the functions
of organisms. Structures and functions of some of these biomolecules are discussed in this Unit.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are primarily produced by plants and form a very large group of naturally occurring organic compounds. Some common examples are cane sugar, glucose, starch, etc. Most of them have a general formula, Cx(H2O)y, and were considered as hydrates of carbon from where the name carbohydrate was derived. For example, the molecular formula of glucose (C6H12O6) fits into this general formula, C6(H2O)6. But all the compounds which fit into this formula may not be classified as carbohydrates. Acetic acid (CH3COOH) fits into this general formula, C2(H2O)2 but is not a carbohydrate. Similarly, rhamnose, C6H12O5 is a carbohydrate but does not fit in this definition. A large number of their reactions have shown that they contain specific functional groups. Chemically, the carbohydrates may be defined as optically active polyhydroxy aldehydes or ketones or the compounds which produce such units on hydrolysis. Some of the carbohydrates,which are sweet in taste, are also called sugars. The most common sugar, used in our homes is named as sucrose whereas the sugar
present in milk is known as lactose. Carbohydrates are also called saccharides (Greek: sakcharon means sugar).
Classification of Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are classified on the basis of their behaviour on hydrolysis. They have been broadly divided into following three groups.
(i) Monosaccharides: A carbohydrate that cannot be hydrolysed further to give simpler unit of polyhydroxy aldehyde or ketone is called a monosaccharide. About 20 monosaccharides are known to occur in nature. Some common examples are glucose, fructose, ribose, etc. (ii) Oligosaccharides: Carbohydrates that yield two to ten monosaccharide units, on hydrolysis, are called oligosaccharides. They are further classified as disaccharides, trisaccharides, tetrasaccharides, etc., depending upon the number of monosaccharides, they provide on hydrolysis. Amongst these the most common are disaccharides. The two monosaccharide units obtained on hydrolysis of a disaccharide may be same or different. For example, sucrose on hydrolysis gives one molecule each of glucose and fructose whereas maltose gives two molecules of glucose only.
(iii) Polysaccharides: Carbohydrates which yield a large number of monosaccharide units on hydrolysis are called polysaccharides. Some common examples are starch, cellulose, glycogen, gums,etc. Polysaccharides are not sweet in taste, hence they are also called non-sugars.
The carbohydrates may also be classified as either reducing or nonreducing sugars. All those carbohydrates which reduce Fehling’s solution and Tollens’ reagent are referred to as reducing sugars. All monosaccharides whether aldose or ketose are reducing sugars. In disaccharides, if the reducing groups of monosaccharides i.e., aldehydic or ketonic groups are bonded, these are non-reducing sugars e.g. sucrose. On the other hand, sugars in which these functional groups are free, are called reducing sugars, for example, maltose and lactose.
Excercise
14.1 What are monosaccharides?
14.2 What are reducing sugars?
14.3 Write two main functions of carbohydrates in plants.
14.4 Classify the following into monosaccharides and disaccharides.Ribose, 2-deoxyribose, maltose, galactose, fructose and lactose.
14.5 What do you understand by the term glycosidic linkage?
14.6 What is glycogen? How is it different from starch?
14.7 What are the hydrolysis products of
(i) sucrose and (ii) lactose?
14.8 What is the basic structural difference between starch and cellulose?
14.9 What happens when D-glucose is treated with the following reagents?
(i) HI (ii) Bromine water (iii) HNO3
14.10 Enumerate the reactions of D-glucose which cannot be explained by its open chain structure.
14.11 What are essential and non-essential amino acids? Give two examples of each type.
14.12 Define the following as related to proteins
(i) Peptide linkage (ii) Primary structure (iii) Denaturation.
14.13 What are the common types of secondary structure of proteins?
Please refer to attached file for NCERT Class 12 Chemistry Biomolecules
