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Asked by CessnaTTX to John, Laura, Luke, Rob, Ruth on 21 Jun 2016.
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Laura Finney answered on 21 Jun 2016:
C-O bonds are when an oxygen and a carbon share electrons, forming a bond between them. So it is a bond between carbon and oxygen.
These are found all in your body in amino acids and all sorts. It gives molecules the ability to do things like bond to other atoms/molecules/do certain reactions and it can give it shape! This means the molcules may fit better into an ezyme or be able to do things in a cell that it wouldn’t normally be able to do without it.
They are found in lots of drug molecules that people take as medicines, they are also found in plastics, fertilizers, flavours, fragrances and so many more things you see every day.
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Luke Williams answered on 21 Jun 2016:
I work particularly with C=O bonds and C-O too, as the enzymes I work with convert one to the other. The C=O group is called the carbonyl group, or ketones and aldehydes. The C-OH group is called the alcohol group, which includes things like ethanol, the alcohol that humans (and animals!) drink.
To be the most general I can be, C-O bonds are crucial to sustainability, because oil generally does not have oxygen in it. Typical source materials for biological materials tend to have too much oxygen in them (too many C-O and perhaps C=O bonds). Typically the majority of chemicals that we want to produce have “some” oxygen in, usually less than the biological materials and more than the chemical materials. Thus a large part of chemistry is about how we insert or remove oxygen as needed.
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Robert Williams answered on 21 Jun 2016:
C-O is a single bond between Carbon – C – and Oxygen – O.
They occur in many organic compounds, but for humans, the most important compounds with these types of bonds in are:
a) Amino Acids – such as Glycine that make up Proteins. They are also the key to many Enzymes in the body.
b) DNA – a ribonucleic acid which also contains C-O bonds
c) Fats – that are important in nerves etc. eg Myelin
d) Carboxylic acids which are important as they are present in the ‘active sites’ of many enzymes and are use to lock in various metals such as Manganese , Iron – In Haemoglobin, Chromium and other metals that are te key to how the enzyme works and how the body uses Enzymes ina myrriad of ways. -
Ruth Patchett answered on 21 Jun 2016:
C-O bonds are bonds between carbons and oxygens. They are very important, as the others say they exist in all sorts of molecules that we need to be alive like DNA, proteins, sugars and all sorts. C-O bonds also have lots of special properties that help biological molecules fold into a 3D shape by interacting with other atoms around them, the 3D shapes of biological molecules is very important to help them carry out their job, like enzymes need their 3D “active site” and DNA is twisted into the famous double helix which helps to protect it from getting damaged. It’s amazing really life on Earth would not exist if these bonds didn’t behave in the way they do!
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