Basic cellular chemistry
What is to be hoped is a review of basic chemical principles
Atomic structure
Atoms:
Electrons, protons, neutrons, isotopes, ions
Chemical bonds
Ionic, covalent
Ionic bonds : electrons exchanged
Covalent bonds : electrons shared
Reactions & Equilibrium
Chemical equilibrium
Mass cannot be created nor destroyed and therefore when chemical reactions are written they have to be balanced in both kind and number of molecules :
2H
2
+ O
2

2H
2
O
2H
2
O
2

2H
2
O + O
2
Equilibrium : starting materials (reactants) and ending materials (products) go back and forth and are in equilibrium.
Equilibrium may favor the reactants or the products
Water
H and O covalently bound creates a polar molecule : partially positive and negative on opposites sides
These partial charges cause the molecules to “stick” to each other
Acid / base chemistry
Water can also dissociate into ions : H
+
and OH
-
Acids : chemicals contributing H +
Bases : chemicals contributing OH
-
Acids and bases mixed together produce salts
Acid / bases measured with pH scale pH 0 – 14 : 7= neutral
Redox reactions
In some chemical reactions, electrons may be exchanged between reactants : oxidation/reduction reactions (redox)
Oxidation : the loss of elections
Reduction : the gain of electrons
The two reactions are always coupled together
Simple organic chemistry
Chemistry of carbon compounds
Compounds containing carbon and hydrogen are organic
Compounds containing only carbon and/or oxygen are inorganic

Recurring groups of atoms have the same properties
Alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, carboxylic acids, amines, sulfhydryl
General Biochemistry
Four principle types of compounds found in living cells : macromolecules
Definitions, functions, examples
Carbohydrates
Simple sugars , polysaccharides
Proteins
Strings of amino acids
Protein structure :
Primary : aa sequence
Secondary : chain folding : alpha helix, beta sheet
Tertiary : complex 3-D structure
Quaternary : subunit orientation
Lipids
Fatty acids
Triglycerides
Phospholipids
Cyclic fatty acids
Nucleotides and Nucleic Acids
Nucleotides : bases, sugars and phosphates
Energy exchange : ATP
Electron exchange : NAD , FAD
Nucleic acids : polymers of nucleotides
DNA
RNA