Carbohydrates biochemical reactions

Once the product specifications have been fixed, some decisions need to be made regarding the reaction path. There are sometimes different paths to the same product. For example, suppose ethanol is to be manufactured. Ethylene could be used as a raw material and reacted with water to produce ethanol. An alternative would be to start with methanol as a raw material and react it with synthesis gas (a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen) to produce the same product. These two paths employ chemical reactor technology. A third path could employ a biochemical reaction (or fermentation) that exploits the metabolic processes of microorganisms in a biochemical reactor. Ethanol could therefore also be manufactured by fermentation of a carbohydrate. 

Fermentation—A biochemical reaction involving enzymes that breaks down complex carbohydrates and simple sugar (glucose), usually producing carbon dioxide and ethanol or an acid. 

Perhaps most interesting are endothermic reactions that result in products of less entropy (Case IV). What is notable about these reactions is that they will not occur on their own without the continued input of energy. Also, the products of these reactions can be complex molecules. The classic example is photosynthesis, which is the biochemical reaction by which plants use solar energy to create carbohydrates and oxygen from carbon dioxide and water, as represented by the following equation ... 

One of the most important problems that has been actively studied during the past few years is the hydration of biological molecules, especially carbohydrates, and the effect of hydration on the conformation of the solute molecule, as well as the effect of the latter on the water structure. Different theoretical and experimental methods have been utilized, and the discrepancies between the results, expressed as numbers of hydration, are considerable. In addition, the water molecule is a reactant in a number of biochemical reactions. The kinetics of these reactions is influenced both by the conformation of the carbohydrate and the structure of the water. These questions will be discussed, with particular reference to the contribution of the vibrational, spectroscopic information to an understanding of such complex mechanisms. 

Enzymes that contain NAD or NADP are usually called dehydrogenases. They participate in many biochemical reactions of lipid, carbohydrate, and protein metabolism An example of an NAD-requmng system is lactic dehydrogenase which catalyzes the conversion of lactic acid to pyruvic... 

Calorimetric measurements yield enthalpy changes directly, and they also yield information on heat capacities, as indicated by equation 10.4-1. Heat capacity calorimeters can be used to determine Cj , directly. It is almost impossible to determine ArCp° from measurements of apparent equilibrium constants of biochemical reactions because the second derivative of In K is required. Data on heat capacities of species in dilute aqueous solutions is quite limited, although the NBS Tables give this information for most of their entries. Goldberg and Tewari (1989) have summarized some of the literature on molar heat capacities of species of biochemical interest in their survey on carbohydrates and their monophosphates. Table 10.1 give some standard molar heat capacities at 298.15 K and their uncertainties. The changes in heat capacities in some chemical reactions are given in Table 10.2. 

In addition, in living systems, most biochemical reactions, including ATP hydrolysis, take place during the catalysis of enzymes. The catalytic action of enzymes allows the hydrolysis of proteins, fats, oils, and carbohydrates. As an example, one may consider proteases, enzymes that aid digestion by hydrolyzing peptide bonds in proteins. They catalyze the hydrolysis of interior peptide bonds in peptide chains, as opposed to exopeptidases, another class of enzymes, that catalyze the hydrolysis of terminal peptide bonds, liberating one free amino acid at a time. 

Niacin ia a nutritional term applied to both nicotinic acid and nicotinamide and to a mixture of the two. Their structures and those of their coenzymes are given in Table 6.1. Numerous redox reactions use NAD+ and NADP+ or NADH and NADPH. The latter are used largely in reactions designed to reductively synthesize various substances, mostly in the extramitochondrial areas of the cell. NAD+, on the other hand, is used largely in its oxidized form in catabolic redox reactions. The rat liver cytosol NADPH/NADP+ ratio is about 80, whereas its NADH/NAD+ ratio is only 8 x 10 4. Table 6.3 lists some biochemical reactions in which these cofactors participate. It shows that they are of crucial importance in the metabolism of carbohydrates, fats, and amino acids. 

The ability to perform even the simplest of muscle movement requires complex coordination of the physical and chemical activities of the tissue. In recent years, nutritionists and exercise physiologists have described how the primary energy sources in food carbohydrates, fats, and proteins are transformed into the universal "currency" of biological energy, ATP. Oxidative metabolism processes the substrates through a cascade of enzymatic events to Insure maximal efficiency in energy conversion. At every level of this conversion, one or more metal ions serve as a cofactor to facilitate these biochemical reactions. The requirement of metals in the production of... 

Ethanol is produced fi om carbohydrate materials by yeasts in an extracellular process. The overall biochemical reaction is represented by (Eq. 9.5). 

The citric acid cycle is the final pathway for the degradation of carbohydrates, amino acids, and fatty acids. The citric acid cycle occurs in the matrix of the mitochondria. It is a cyclic series of biochemical reactions that accomplishes the complete oxidation of the carbon skeletons of food molecules. 

Thiamine is a coenzyme needed for a number of essential biochemical reactions in the body. A coenzyme is a chemical compound that works along with an enzyme to increase the rate at which chemical reactions take place. Without enzymes and coenzymes in the body, many chemical reactions would take place so slowly that normal bodily functions could not continue. Thiamine is involved in chemical reactions by which blood is produced and circulated through the body, carbohydrates are metabolized, digestive enzymes are produced, and the nervous system is maintained. 

Fig. 33.28. Synthesis of phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, and phosphatidylserine. The multiple pathways reflect the importance of phospholipids in membrane structure. For example, phosphatidylcholine (PC) can be synthesized from dietary choline when it is available. If choline is not available, PC can be made from dietary carbohydrate, although the amount synthesized is inadequate to prevent choline deficiency. SAM is S-adenosyhnethionine, a methyl group donor for many biochemical reactions (see Chapter 40).

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