Organic Compounds Essay

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Organic Compounds The chemical compounds of living things are known as organic compounds because of their association with organisms. Organic compounds, which are the compounds associated with life processes, are the subject matter of organic chemistry. Among the numerous types of organic compounds, four major categories are found in all living things: carbohydrates, lipids, protein, and nucleic acids. Carbohydrates Almost all organisms use carbohydrates as sources of energy. Some carbohydrates serve as structural materials. Carbohydrates are molecules composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Simple carbohydrates commonly referred to as sugars, can be monosaccharide if they are composed of single molecules, or disaccharides if they are composed of two molecules. The most important monosaccharide is glucose. Glucose is the basic form of fuel in living things. It is soluble and is transported by body fluids to all cells, where it is metabolised to release its energy. Glucose is the starting material for cellular respiration, and it is the main product of photosynthesis. | | | | | | | | Complex carbohydrates are formed by linking innumerable monosaccharides. Among the most important polysaccharides are the starches, which are composed of hundreds or thousands of glucose units linked to one another. Starches serve as a storage for carbohydrates. Much of the world's human population satisfies its energy needs with the starches of rice, wheat, corn, and potatoes. Two important polysaccharides are glycogen and cellulose. Glycogen is composed of thousands of glucose units, but the units are bonded in a different pattern than in starches. Glycogen is the form in which glucose is stored in the human liver. Cellulose is used primarily as a structural carbohydrate. It is also composed of glucose units, but the units cannot be released from

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