Hydrogen Bonds
- Hydrogen bonding plays an important role between many biological molecules
- Some key functions include:
- Dissolving of solutes in water
- The cohesion and adhesion of water molecules
- These properties allow water to move up the trunks of really tall trees
- Base-pairing between the two strands of DNA
- Structure:
- Hydrogen bonds help to form part of the secondary and tertiary levels of structure in proteins
- The hydrogen bonds found between strands of cellulose and collagen give those molecules their tensile strength
- Interactions between mRNA and tRNA during protein synthesis
- Surface effects on membranes between polar phosphate groups and water
Hydrogen bonding in water
- Hydrogen bonding is a fundamental property of water
- Water is of the utmost biological importance
- It is the medium in which all metabolic reactions take place in cells
- Between 70% to 95% of the mass of a cell is water
- Water is so fundamental to life that astronomers look for signs of water on other planets and moons, as indicators of possible extra-terrestrial life
- As 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered in water it is a major habitat for organisms
- Water is composed of atoms of hydrogen and oxygen
- One atom of oxygen combines with two atoms of hydrogen by sharing electrons (covalent bonding)
- Although water as a whole is electrically neutral, the sharing of the electrons is uneven between the oxygen and hydrogen atoms
- The oxygen atom attracts the electrons more strongly than the hydrogen atoms, resulting in a weak negatively charged region on the oxygen atom (δ-) and a weak positively charged region on the hydrogen atoms(δ+), this also results in the molecule's asymmetrical shape
- This separation of charge due to the electrons in the covalent bonds being unevenly shared is called a dipole
- When a molecule has one end that is negatively charged and one end that is positively charged it is also a polar molecule
- Water is therefore a polar molecule
The covalent bonds of water make it a polar molecule
- Hydrogen bonds form between water molecules
- As a result of the polarity of water, hydrogen bonds form between the positive and negatively charged regions of adjacent water molecules
- Hydrogen bonds are weak, when there are few, so they are constantly breaking and reforming
- However, when there are large numbers present they form a strong structure
- Hydrogen bonds cause many of the properties of water molecules, that make them so important to living organisms:
- Excellent solvent – many polar substances can dissolve in water
- A relatively high specific heat capacity
- A relatively high latent heat of vaporisation
- Water is less dense when a solid (ice floats, allowing aquatic life to flourish beneath)
- Water has high surface tension and cohesion
- It acts as a reagent
The polarity of water molecules allows hydrogen bonds to form between adjacent water molecules