![]() ![]() The individual nonpolar bonds impart an overall nonpolar characteristic to the hydrocarbon compound. The carbon-carbon and carbon-hydrogen bonds are nonpolar, which means that the electrons between the atoms are shared equally. Hydrocarbons are chemical compounds that consist of carbon and hydrogen atoms. Lipids are structurally and functionally diverse group of hydrocarbons. Lipids are a Diverse Group of Hydrophobic Molecules They function as structural components of cellular membranes, energy reservoirs, and signaling molecules. Certain classes of lipids, such as fats, phospholipids, and steroids are crucial to all living organisms. Lipids are a group of structurally and functionally diverse organic compounds that are insoluble in water. The third type, steroids, like cholesterol, have a unique fused structure with a carbon skeleton of four hydrocarbon rings, so their chemical structures look very different from fats and phospholipids. The hydrophilic phosphate heads are in contact with the aqueous solution inside and outside of the cell, whereas the hydrophobic tails face each other, shielded and away from contact with water. This causes the unique feature of phospholipids, an hydrophilic phosphate head and hydrocarbon tails, which form a bilayer, the cell membrane. These saturated and unsaturated fatty acids also exist in phospholipids, but there are only two fatty acids attached to glycerol, and a charged phosphate group in place of the third fatty acid. They can be considered saturated or unsaturated, based on the presence or absence of double bonds in each fatty acid, and thus potential saturation with the maximum number of hydrogens. They are hydrophobic, insoluble in water, due to uncharged hydrocarbons.īased on the number and type of hydrocarbons, lipids are divided into three classes, fats, phospholipids, and steroids.įats, also known as triglycerides, are made up of a glycerol and three fatty acids. Lipids are grouped together by a single defining factor. ![]()
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