BIOCHEMISTR

Y
WATER
Physical Properties of Water
Water has a higher melting
point, boiling point, heat of
vaporization, heat of fusion,
and surface tension than
most common liquids.
Physical Properties of Water
The strong intermolecular
forces of liquid water are
caused by the specific
distribution of electrons in
the water molecule.
Physical Properties of Water
An H-bond is formed
when electrostatic
attraction happens
between the H & O
δ+ δ-
Hydrogen Bonding of Water
Hydrogen bonds are relatively weak
compared to covalent bonds.
Another important property of
hydrogen bonds is that they are
strongest when the two interacting
groups are oriented to yield
maximum electrostatic attraction.
Hydrogen Bonding of Water
Hydrogen bonds also have a
characteristic bond length, which
differs from one type of hydrogen
bond to another, according to the
structural geometry and the
electron distribution in the
bonded molecules.
Other Properties of H-Bonds
H – bonds are not unique to water
because they tend to form between a
small , highly electronegative atom, like,
oxygen, nitrogen, or fluorine, and a
hydrogen atom covalently bonded to
another electronegative atom.
H – bonds may form between two
molecules or between two parts of the
same molecule.
 Other Properties of H - Bonds
Cooperative H – bonding is a
characteristic of both proteins and
nucleic acids which may contain
dozens, hundreds, or even thousands
of cooperative H – bonds.
H – bonds form and break in
aqueous systems faster than most
covalent bonds.
 Solvent Properties of Water
Water is a much better solvent than
most common liquids. Many crystalline
salts and other ionic compounds readily
dissolve in water but are nearly
insoluble in non – polar liquids like
chloroform or benzene.
Water also tends to oppose the
electrostatic attraction between positive
and negative ions.
Solvent Properties of Water
A 2nd class of substances
readily dissolved by water
includes the non – ionic but
polar compounds – sugars,
simple alcohols, aldehydes,
and ketones.
Hydrophobic Interactions
Water also disperses or solubilizes in
the form of micelles many
compounds which contain both
strongly non – polar and strongly
polar groups.
Micelles have additional attractive
forces between adjacent hydrocarbon
structures called van der Waals
interactions.
Hydrophobic Interactions
We use the term hydrophobic
interaction to refer to the
clustering or aggregation of
hydrophobic portions of
amphipathic molecules out of
contact with water.
Effects of Solutes on Solvent
Properties
The presence of dissolved
solutes causes the structure
and properties of liquid water
to change. Dissolved salts tend
to break the structure of water.
 Effects of Solutes on Solvent
Properties
Solutes produce such
characteristic changes as
depression of freezing point,
elevation of boiling point, and
depression of vapor pressure.
They also endow a solution with
the property of osmotic pressure.
 Ionization of Water
There is a tendency for the H atom to
dissociate from the O atom to which it is
covalently bonded and “jump” to the O
atom of the adjacent H2O molecule to
which it is H – bonded
This tendency of the proton to “jump”
may occur in a series of H2O molecules
without little movement of the H2O
molecules themselves.
 Ion Product of Water
pH = log10 1 _ = – log10 [H3O+]
[H3O+]
 Measurement of pH
Measurement of pH is one of the
most common and useful analytical
procedures in biochemistry since the
pH determines many important
aspects of the structure and activity
of biological macromolecules and
thus the behavior of cells and
organisms.
 Measurement of pH
The primary standard for
measurement of pH is the
hydrogen electrode, a
specially treated platinum
electrode immersed in the
solution whose pH is to be
measured.
 Measurement of pH
The hydrogen proved too
cumbersome for general use and has
been replaced by the glass electrode,
which responds directly to H+
concentration in the absence of
hydrogen gas.
Another way of measuring pH is to
use acid – base indicators.
 Acids and Bases
The most general and comprehensive
definitions of acids and bases,
applicable to both non – aqueous and
aqueous systems are those of G. N.
Lewis.
A Lewis acid is a potential electron –
pair acceptor and a Lewis base a
potential electron – pair donor.
 Acids and Bases
However, the formalism introduced
by J. N. Brönsted and T. M. Lowry is
more widely used in describing acid
– base reactions in dilute aqueous
systems.
According to Brönsted – Lowry
concepts, an acid is a proton donor
and a base is a proton acceptor.
 Acids and Bases
An acid – base reaction
always involves a conjugate
acid – base pair, made up of a
proton donor and the
corresponding proton
acceptor.
 Acids and Bases
The equation for the dissociation
or ionization of an acid (HA) in
dilute aqueous solution involves
the transfer of a proton from the
acid to water, which itself can act
as a proton acceptor to yield
H3O+:
HA + H2O ↔ H3O+ + A-
Acid – Base Indicators
The pH of a solution can be
determined by using indicator
dyes, most of which are weak
acids (designated Hind) such an
indicator dissociates according to
the equilibrium
  Hind ↔ H+ + Ind-
 Buffers
Intracellular and extracellular
fluids of living organisms contain
conjugate acid – base pairs which
acts as buffers at normal pH of
these fluids. A buffer is a system
which tends to resist change in
pH when a given increment of H+
or OH- is added.
 Buffers
The major intracellular buffer is
the conjugate acid – base pair
H2PO4‑ - HPO42-
Organic phosphates such as
glucose 6 – phosphate and ATP
also contribute buffering power in
the cell.
 Buffers
The major extracellular
buffer in the blood and
interstitial fluid of
vertebrates is the
bicarbonate buffer system
(H2CO3 – HCO3 ). -
Fitness of Aqueous Environment
Living organisms have
effectively adapted to their
aqueous environment and
have even evolved means of
exploiting unusual properties
of water.
Fitness of Aqueous Environment
The high specific heat of water is
useful. To large terrestrial animals
because body water acts as a heat
buffer allowing the temperature
of the organism to remain
relatively constant as the air
temperature fluctuates.
Fitness of Aqueous Environment
The high heat of
vaporization of water is
exploited by vertebrates as
an effective means of losing
heat by evaporation of
sweat.
Fitness of Aqueous Environment
The high degree of internal
cohesion of liquid water due
to H – bonding is exploited by
higher plants to transport
dissolved nutrients from the
roots up to the leaves by
transpiration.
Fitness of Aqueous Environment
Even the fact that ice has a
lower density than liquid
water and therefore floats has
important biological
consequences in the ecology
of aquatic animals.
Fitness of Aqueous Environment
But most fundamental to all
living organisms is that man
important biological properties of
cell macromolecules, particularly
proteins and nucleic acids, derive
their interactions with water
molecules of the surrounding
medium.