Synthetic and Natural

Organic Polymer
Chapter 25

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A polymer is a high molar mass molecular compound made up
of many repeating chemical units.

Naturally occurring polymers

•Proteins
•Nucleic acids
•Cellulose
•Rubber
Synthetic polymers
•Nylon
•Dacron
•Lucite
25.1
The simple repeating unit of a polymer is the monomer.

Homopolymer is a polymer made up of only one type of

monomer
( CF2 CF2 )n ( CH2 CH2 )n ( CH2 CH )n

Teflon Polyethylene Cl
PVC

25.2
Copolymer is a polymer made up of two or more monomers

( CH CH2 CH2 CH CH CH2 )n

Styrene-butadiene rubber

25.2
 Stereoisomers of Polymers

R groups on same
side of chain
Isotactic

R groups alternate
from side to side
Syndiotactic

R groups disposed
at random
Atactic
 Proteins
Amino acids are the basic structural units of proteins. An
amino acid is a compound that contains at least one amino
group (-NH2) and at least one carboxyl group (-COOH)

H O H O
+H N C C O- + +H3N C C O-
3

R1 R2

Peptide bond
H O H O
+H N C C N C C O- + H2O
3

R1 H R2

25.3
25.3
Protein Structure

Carbon

Nitrogen
The structure is
held in position by
Oxygen intramolecular
hydrogen bonds
R group (………)

Hydrogen

25.3
Protein Structure

25.3
 Protein Structure
Intermolecular Forces in a Protein Molecule

ionic forces
hydrogen
bonds dispersion
forces

dispersion ionic forces

forces
dispersion dipole-dipole
forces forces

25.3
Hydrogen Bonds in Parallel and Antiparallel b-pleated Sheets

25.3
 Protein Structure
The structural changes that occur when oxygen binds to the
heme group in hemoglobin.

25.3
 Nucleic Acids

Nucleic acids are high molar mass polymers that play an

essential role in protein synthesis.
1. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)
2. Ribonucleic acid (RNA)

DNA molecule has 2 helical strands.

Each strand is made up of nucleotides.

25.4
The Components of the Nucleic Acids DNA and RNA

25.4
Base-Pair Formation by Adenine and Thymine and by
Cytosine and Guanine

25.4
Chemistry In Action: DNA Fingerprinting

25.4