3The Importance of Weak Chemical Interactions.pptVIP

The Importance of Weak Chemical Interactions;;Scientists estimate that a typical cell contains 104 to 105 different kinds of molecules. Some of these are small molecules such as ions (Na+ or H+) or small organic compounds such as amino acids. Many of the other molecules in a cell are very large with molecular weights of 104 to 1012. These are called macromolecules (macro=big). ;Macromolecules are produced from joining small molecules together in a chain. The small molecules are called monomers (mono=one). The chain of monomers is called a polymer (poly=many). Examples: DNA is a polymer made of 4 monomers called nucleotides. Protein is a polymer of 20 monomers called amino acids. ;;Molecular Biology mostly focuses on proteins and nucleic acids. For proteins, covalent bonds hold amino acids together in a linear chain. In nucleic acids, nucleotides are held together by covalent bonds.;Weak noncovalent bonds occur and are vital for life. Weak noncovalent bonds are formed between an enzyme and its substrate. Weak bonds form between proteins and between proteins and DNA. Weak bonds between different parts of a protein molecule determine how it will fold.;A. Characteristics of Chemical Bonds;;The strength of a chemical bond is correlated with the distance between the two atoms. Two atoms held together by a strong bond will be closer together than the same two atoms held together by a weak bond.;;1. Covalent bonds;;;;;Noncovalent bonds are generally much weaker than covalent bonds. We will look at 4 kinds of noncovalent bonds: 1. Hydrogen bonds 2. hydrophobic interactions 3. ionic bonds 4. Van der Waals attractions ;Stronger covalent bonds will be shorter than weaker noncovalent bonds. For example: Two hydrogen atoms held together by a covalent bond will be 0.74 ? apart, while two hydrogen atoms held together by van der Waals forces would be 1.2 ? apart.;;The length of a weaker hydrogen bond is much greater than the length of a stronger covalent bond.;Eac