Open Question
What is a nucleotide, and what three kinds of components does it contain?
Ch.23 - Organic and Biological Chemistry
Chapter 23, Problem 129
Show by drawing structures how the sugar and nitrogenous base components of a nucleic acid are joined.
Verified step by step guidance1
Step 1: Identify the components of a nucleic acid. A nucleic acid is composed of a sugar, a nitrogenous base, and a phosphate group. For this problem, we will focus on the sugar and nitrogenous base components.
Step 2: Recognize the sugar component. In nucleic acids, the sugar is either ribose (in RNA) or deoxyribose (in DNA). Both sugars are pentoses, meaning they have five carbon atoms.
Step 3: Identify the nitrogenous base. There are two types of nitrogenous bases: purines (adenine and guanine) and pyrimidines (cytosine, thymine, and uracil). These bases attach to the sugar molecule.
Step 4: Understand the glycosidic bond formation. The nitrogenous base is attached to the sugar via a glycosidic bond. This bond forms between the 1' carbon of the sugar and a nitrogen atom in the base (N-9 in purines and N-1 in pyrimidines).
Step 5: Draw the structure. Start by drawing the sugar ring, then attach the nitrogenous base to the 1' carbon of the sugar using a line to represent the glycosidic bond. Ensure the correct orientation of the base relative to the sugar.
Related Practice
Open Question
What are the names of the sugars in DNA and RNA, and how do they differ?
Open Question
Show by drawing structures how the phosphate and sugar components of a nucleic acid are joined.
Open Question
The DNA from sea urchins contains about 32% A and about 18% G. What percentages of T and C would you expect in sea urchin DNA? Explain.
Open Question
Fumaric acid is an organic substance widely used as a food additive. Its elemental composition is 41.4% C, 3.5% H, and 55.1% O. A solution made by dissolving 0.1500 g of fumaric acid in water and diluting to a volume of 100.0 mL gave rise to an osmotic pressure of 240.3 mm Hg at 298 K. On titration of a sample weighing 0.573 g, 94.1 mL of 0.105 M NaOH was required to reach an equivalence point. Fumaric acid reacts with 1 mol of H2 to give a hydrogenation product. (a) What is the empirical formula of fumaric acid? (b) What is the molecular weight of fumaric acid? (c) Draw three possible structures for fumaric acid. (d) If fumaric acid contains a trans double bond, which of your structures is correct?
Open Question
Cytochrome c is an important enzyme found in the cells of all aerobic organisms. Elemental analysis of cytochrome c shows that it contains 0.43% iron. What is the minimum molecular weight of this enzyme?