Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Fatty acids exhibit reactions like other carboxylic acids, i.e. they undergo esterification and acid-base reactions. Fatty acids do not show a great variation in their acidities, as indicated by their respective pK a. Nonanoic acid, for example, has a pK a of 4.96, being only slightly weaker than acetic acid (4.76).
[2]: 634 Fatty acids are made by fatty acid synthases that polymerize and then reduce acetyl-CoA units. The acyl chains in the fatty acids are extended by a cycle of reactions that add the acetyl group, reduce it to an alcohol, dehydrate it to an alkene group and then reduce it again to an alkane group.
The fatty acids in phospho- and glycolipids usually contain an even number, typically between 14 and 24, of carbon atoms, with 16- and 18-carbon being the most common. FAs may be saturated or unsaturated, with the configuration of the double bonds nearly always cis .
A view of the atomic structure of a single branched strand of glucose units in a glycogen molecule. Glycogen (black granules) in spermatozoa of a flatworm; transmission electron microscopy, scale: 0.3 μm. Glycogen is a multibranched polysaccharide of glucose that serves as a form of energy storage in animals, [2] fungi, and bacteria. [3]
Example of an unsaturated fat triglyceride (C 55 H 98 O 6).Left part: glycerol; right part, from top to bottom: palmitic acid, oleic acid, alpha-linolenic acid. A triglyceride (from tri-and glyceride; also TG, triacylglycerol, TAG, or triacylglyceride) is an ester derived from glycerol and three fatty acids. [1]
Fatty acid synthesis starts with acetyl-CoA and builds up by the addition of two-carbon units. Fatty acid synthesis occurs in the cytoplasm of cells while oxidative degradation occurs in the mitochondria. Many of the enzymes for the fatty acid synthesis are organized into a multienzyme complex called fatty acid synthase. [5]
Many types of neutral fats are possible both because of the number and variety of fatty acids that could form part of it and because of the different bonding locations for the fatty acids. An example is a monoglyceride , which has one fatty acid combined with glycerol, a diglyceride , which has two fatty acids combined with glycerol, or a ...
Butanoic acid CH 3 (CH 2) 2 COOH C4:0 Valeric acid: Pentanoic acid CH 3 (CH 2) 3 COOH C5:0 Caproic acid: Hexanoic acid CH 3 (CH 2) 4 COOH C6:0 Enanthic acid: Heptanoic acid CH 3 (CH 2) 5 COOH C7:0 Caprylic acid: Octanoic acid CH 3 (CH 2) 6 COOH C8:0 Pelargonic acid: Nonanoic acid CH 3 (CH 2) 7 COOH C9:0 Capric acid: Decanoic acid CH 3 (CH 2) 8 ...