Can someone please give me a summary comparing and contrasting the variety of amino acids with that of monosaccharides and fatty acids? Which group exhibits the greatest structural variability and why/how?
2007-09-17 13:46:42 · 1 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Chemistry
They truly all exhibit a great variety of structural variability. I think that your teacher wants you to say that amino acids give greatest variety, because there are 22 of them, and they can be combined in all combinations and permutations.
Next, your teacher is cheating a little. S(he) specifies fatty acids, which are esterified with glycerol. But S(he) does not specify which fatty acids (there are many) nor does s(he) tell how many (there are several possibilities) are esterified with each glycerol.
Next, your teacher cheats by specifying monosaccharides, like glucose, fructose, and galactose. This leaves out table sugar (glucose-fructose), milk sugar (glucose-galactose) and the kajillions of polysaccharides that coat the cell walls of bacteria that are recognized by antibodies in the immune system. It also leaves out the starch, glycogen, cellulose, cotton, linen, and wood that make up much else in the world.
2007-09-17 14:09:23 · answer #1 · answered by steve_geo1 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋