Biology Forum Molecular Biology What characteristics are there of alcohols?

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    • #13904
      leftventricle
      Participant

      About fats…the macromolecule: Fatty acids are attached to alcohols right? (eg glycerol)

      So…what is an alcohol?

    • #101730
      vinayaksabnis
      Participant

      Alcohols are nothing but they are the alkyl group attached to OH group

    • #101736
      jonmoulton
      Participant

      A free alcohol group (properly called a hydroxyl, -OH) can hydrogen-bond, so the group tends to improve the aqueous solubility of the molecule bearing it. Under some circumstances the hydroxyl can be reactive; a typical reaction of hydroxyl groups is esterification (ester formation).

      To form fatty acids, a hydroxyl is combined with a carboxylic acid by dehydration synthesis to form an ester (a fat has three of these ester groups). Hydrolysis of the ester cleaves the fat into a trihydroxyl-bearing glycerol and three fatty acids (each with its terminal carboxylic acid).

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