CHEM F343: Inorganic Chemistry III: Pilani

BITS Pilani
Pilani Campus
CHEM F343: Inorganic Chemistry III
Lecture 10
BITSPilani, Pilani Campus

Electron transfer pathway: Respiration
• Organisms can be classified based on how they obtain

energy = how they make ATP
• Autotrophs: are able to produce their own organic
molecules through photosynthesis
• Heterotrophs: live on organic compounds produced by
other organisms
• All organisms use cellular respiration to extract
energy from organic molecules.
2/21/2017
BITSPilani, Pilani Campus
Respiration
Cellular respiration is a series of reactions that

are:
-Oxidations – loss of electrons
-Dehydrogenations – lost electrons are
accompanied by hydrogen
Therefore, what is actually lost is a hydrogen

atom (1 electron, 1 proton).
How does this happen?
• The net equation for glucose breakdown is:
C6H12O6 + 6 O2 = 6 CO2 + 6 H2O + energy
• Glucose is a high-energy molecule; CO2 and H2O are
low-energy molecules; cellular respiration is thus
exergonic because it releases energy.
• Electrons are removed from substrates and received
by oxygen, which combines with H+ to become water.
• Glucose is oxidized and O2 is reduced.
4
Important facts
During redox reactions, electrons carry energy
from one molecule to another.
NAD+ is an electron carrier.
-NAD+ accepts 2 electrons and 1 proton to
become NADH
-the reaction is reversible
NAD+ and NADH are dinucleotides that serve as
electron carriers in cellular respiration
5
6
7
Respiration - Types
During respiration, electrons are shuttled
through electron carriers to a final electron
acceptor.
aerobic respiration: final electron receptor is
oxygen (O2)
anaerobic respiration: final electron acceptor is
an inorganic molecule (not O2)
fermentation: final electron acceptor is an
organic molecule
8
Aerobic Respiration
C6H12O6 + 6O2 6CO2 + 6H2O
ΔG = - 686kcal/mol of glucose
Remember,
• ΔG can be even higher than this in a cell
• This large amount of energy must be
released in small steps rather than all at
once.
9
Oxidation of Glucose
Cells are able to make ATP via:

1. Substrate-level phosphorylation – transferring a
phosphate directly to ADP from another molecule
2. oxidative phosphorylation – use of ATP synthase and
energy derived from a proton (H+) gradient to make ATP
10
1. Oxidative Phosphorylation
• Oxidative phosphorylation is the process in which ATP is
formed as a result of the transfer of electrons from NADH
or FADH 2 to O 2 by a series of electron carriers.
• This process, which takes place in mitochondria, is the
major source of ATP in aerobic organisms. For example,
oxidative phosphorylation generates 26 of the 30 molecules
of ATP that are formed when glucose is completely oxidized
to CO2 and H2O
• The NADH and FADH2 formed in glycolysis, fatty acid
oxidation and the citric acid cycle, are energy-rich
molecules because each contains a pair of electrons having a
high transfer potential.
• When these electrons are used to reduce molecular oxygen
to water, a large amount of free energy is liberated, which
can be used to generate ATP. 11
Oxidative Phosphorylation
• Oxidative phosphorylation is conceptually simple and
mechanistically complex. Indeed, the unraveling of the
mechanism of oxidative phosphorylation has been one of the
most challenging problems of biochemistry.
• The flow of electrons from NADH or FADH2 to O2 through
protein complexes located in the mitochondrial inner
membrane leads to the pumping of protons out of the
mitochondrial matrix. The resulting uneven distribution of
protons generates a pH gradient and a transmembrane
electrical potential that creates a proton-motive force. ATP
is synthesized when protons flow back to the mitochondrial
matrix through an enzyme complex.
• Thus, the oxidation of fuels and the phosphorylation of ADP
are coupled by a proton gradient across the inner
mitochondrial membrane .
12
Schematic of the process: Oxidative
Phosphorylation
Substrate-level phosphorylation
Pyruvic acid
14
Oxidation of Glucose
The complete oxidation of glucose proceeds in
stages:
1. glycolysis
2. pyruvate oxidation
3. Krebs cycle
4. electron transport chain & chemiosmosis
15
Glycolysis
Glycolysis converts glucose to pyruvate.

-a 10-step biochemical pathway
-occurs in the cytoplasm
-2 molecules of pyruvate are formed
-net production of 2 ATP molecules by
substrate-level phosphorylation
-2 NADH produced by the reduction of NAD+
16
Glycolysis
For glycolysis to continue, NADH must be
recycled to NAD+ by either:
1. aerobic respiration occurs when O2 is

available as the final electron acceptor
2. fermentation – occurs when oxygen is not

available; an organic molecule is the final
electron acceptor
17
Glycolysis
The fate of pyruvate depends on oxygen

availability.
When oxygen is present, pyruvate is oxidized to

acetyl-CoA (coenzyme) which enters the
Krebs cycle
Without oxygen, pyruvate is reduced in order to
oxidize NADH back to NAD+
18
19
20
21
22
Pyruvate Oxidation
In the presence of oxygen, pyruvate is oxidized.

-occurs in the mitochondria in eukaryotes
-occurs at the plasma membrane in prokaryotes
-in mitochondria, a multienzyme complex called
pyruvate dehydrogenase catalyzes the reaction
23
Pyruvate Oxidation
The products of pyruvate oxidation include:
-1 CO2
-1 NADH
-1 acetyl-CoA which consists of 2 carbons from
pyruvate attached to coenzyme A
Acetyl-CoA proceeds to the Krebs cycle.
24
Krebs Cycle
• German born British biochemist Sir Hans Adolf
Krebs established this cycle
•The cycle is also known as Tricarboxylic Acid
Cycle (TCA) or Krebs Cycle or Citric Acid Cycle
Reactions
The citric acid cycle is a central metabolic
pathway which generates NADH and FADH2 for
use in electron transport. It also produces GTP via
substrate-level phosphorylation.
25
Citric Acid Cycle CO2
Acetyl-CoA
O
NADH + H + CoASH O
products H3C C S CoA H3C C COO-
COO-
Pyruvate
COO- CoASH
NADH + H + CH2
NAD+ C O
HO C COO-
COO-
COO- CH2
CH2
CH2
HO CH COO-
COO-
Oxaloacetate CH COO-
CH2 Citrate
Malate HO CH Isocitrate
COO-
COO-
NAD+
COO- NADH + H +
Fumarate CH GTP: Guanosine Triphosphate COO- CO2

CH Succinate Succinyl-CoA CoASH CH2
COO- COO- COO- CH2

CH2 CH2 C O
FADH 2 NAD+
CH2 CH2 COO-
FAD COO- GTP GDP + Pi C O CO2 NADH + H +

CoASH S CoA a-ketoglutarate
Krebs Cycle
The remaining steps of the Krebs cycle:

-release 2 molecules of CO2
-reduce 3 NAD+ to 3 NADH
-reduce 1 FAD (electron carrier) to FADH2
-produce 1 ATP
-regenerate oxaloacetate
27
Overall Process
After glycolysis, pyruvate oxidation, and the

Krebs cycle, glucose gets oxidized to:
- 6 CO2
- 4 ATP
- 10 NADH
These electron carriers proceed
- 2 FADH2
to the electron transport chain.
28
Overall Schematic
Image Courtesy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_respiration

CHEM F343: Inorganic Chemistry III: Pilani

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

CHEM F343: Inorganic Chemistry III: Pilani

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

CHEM F343: Inorganic Chemistry III: Pilani

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

BITS Pilani

CHEM F343: Inorganic Chemistry III

BITSPilani, Pilani Campus

• Organisms can be classified based on how they obtain

Cellular respiration is a series of reactions that

Therefore, what is actually lost is a hydrogen

Cells are able to make ATP via:

Glycolysis converts glucose to pyruvate.

1. aerobic respiration occurs when O2 is

2. fermentation – occurs when oxygen is not

The fate of pyruvate depends on oxygen

When oxygen is present, pyruvate is oxidized to

In the presence of oxygen, pyruvate is oxidized.

The products of pyruvate oxidation include:

Acetyl-CoA proceeds to the Krebs cycle.

Fumarate CH GTP: Guanosine Triphosphate COO- CO2

COO- COO- COO- CH2

FAD COO- GTP GDP + Pi C O CO2 NADH + H +

The remaining steps of the Krebs cycle:

After glycolysis, pyruvate oxidation, and the

Image Courtesy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_respiration

You might also like