Friday, January 13, 2012
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Atomic music
Did you know that each atom produces music while suffers radioactive decay? What if suddenly we became atomic musicians, using the atoms as musical instruments? Believe it or not, there is actually people working on it. You can check the information in the following link:
If you want to try your skills as atomic musicion, you can do it here:
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Thioester group
The thioester group, as its name indicates, is characterized by being derived from an ester group, in which the oxygen that is connected by a single bond to the carbon is replaced by a sulfur atom. Its chemical formula is COSR. Thioesters are obtained when a carboxylic acid reacts with a thiol.
Thioesters are very important in biochemistry, mostly as a consequence of the fact that the molecule coenzyme A (CoA) has a free thiol group which reacts with carboxylic groups to form thioesters. The best known example is the molecule of acetyl-CoA.
It is thought that thioesters may have been precursors of life, as advocated by de Duve in "Thioester World":
It is revealing that thioesters are obligatory intermediates in several key processes in which ATP is either used or regenerated. Thioesters are involved in the synthesis of all esters, including those found in complex lipids. They also participate in the synthesis of a number of other cellular components, including peptides, fatty acids, sterols, terpenes, porphyrins, and others. In addition, thioesters are formed as key intermediates in several particularly ancient processes that result in the assembly of ATP. In both these instances, the thioester is closer than ATP to the process that uses or yields energy. In other words, thioesters could have actually played the role of ATP in a "thioester world" initially devoid of ATP. Eventually, [these] thioesters could have served to usher in ATP through its ability to support the formation of bonds between phosphate groups.
It is revealing that thioesters are obligatory intermediates in several key processes in which ATP is either used or regenerated. Thioesters are involved in the synthesis of all esters, including those found in complex lipids. They also participate in the synthesis of a number of other cellular components, including peptides, fatty acids, sterols, terpenes, porphyrins, and others. In addition, thioesters are formed as key intermediates in several particularly ancient processes that result in the assembly of ATP. In both these instances, the thioester is closer than ATP to the process that uses or yields energy. In other words, thioesters could have actually played the role of ATP in a "thioester world" initially devoid of ATP. Eventually, [these] thioesters could have served to usher in ATP through its ability to support the formation of bonds between phosphate groups.
By the way, as a curiosity, if the oxygen from the ester group that is replaced by sulfur is the one of the double bond, the resulting functional group is called thionoester.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Famous sentence (7)
"A cell of a higher organism contains a thousand different substances, arranged in a complex system. This great organized system was not discovered by chemical or physical methods; they are inadequate to its refinement and delicacy and complexity." — Herbert Spencer Jennings
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Game about organic chemistry
Here it is the link to a quizz about the nomenclature of organic molecules.
http://www.funtrivia.com/playquiz/quiz30283722ab7e0.html
http://www.funtrivia.com/playquiz/quiz30283722ab7e0.html
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