Organic Compound #3: Proteins

A protein is like a coiled up messed up slinky made of hundreds of amino acids.  When you join these amino acids, it’s commonly called a polypeptide chain.  These coil up to create a three dimensional chain.  How are amino acids joined together?  They are joined together by a dehydration synthesis reaction.  Conversely they are broken apart by water through a hydrolysis reaction.  (Where else did we hear this?  During our carb talk, we learned how this is how sucrose is made from glucose and fructose.  During our lipid talk we learned this is FA’s attach to glycerol to create mono, di and triglycerides.)

Structure of an Amino Acid