Just like its buddies, starch and glycogen, cellulose is made of glucose. But, it's a tad bit different – it’s the cooler cousin made of β-glucose, while starch and glycogen are made of α-glucose.
Think of glucose as Lego blocks. Just like how you can stack Lego in different ways, glucose can form different structures based on its type.
How is cellulose structured? 📏
Linking up!: Condensation reactions (when molecules join & water is produced) link a free β-glucose’s C1 to C4 of another at the end of the growing cellulose chain.
Bond type: All the bonds holding the glucose together in cellulose are 1→4 glycosidic bonds, meaning it's a straight chain. No curly-wurly branches here!
Size Matters: A single cellulose molecule can have over 10,000 β-glucose molecules! Each β-glucose is about 1nm, so one cellulose molecule can be more than 10µm long!
The cool twist in cellulose 🔄
In β-glucose, the –OH group at C1 faces up and at C4, it faces down. To link them, every new β-glucose added turns upside down compared to the previous one. It's like a dance where every other person is doing a headstand!
Result? Alternating β-glucose units facing up and down.
Now, α-glucose in starch is like a curly slide (helix), but because of this upside-down dance, cellulose β-glucose remains straight.
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Just like its buddies, starch and glycogen, cellulose is made of glucose. But, it's a tad bit different – it’s the cooler cousin made of β-glucose, while starch and glycogen are made of α-glucose.
Think of glucose as Lego blocks. Just like how you can stack Lego in different ways, glucose can form different structures based on its type.
How is cellulose structured? 📏
Linking up!: Condensation reactions (when molecules join & water is produced) link a free β-glucose’s C1 to C4 of another at the end of the growing cellulose chain.
Bond type: All the bonds holding the glucose together in cellulose are 1→4 glycosidic bonds, meaning it's a straight chain. No curly-wurly branches here!
Size Matters: A single cellulose molecule can have over 10,000 β-glucose molecules! Each β-glucose is about 1nm, so one cellulose molecule can be more than 10µm long!
The cool twist in cellulose 🔄
In β-glucose, the –OH group at C1 faces up and at C4, it faces down. To link them, every new β-glucose added turns upside down compared to the previous one. It's like a dance where every other person is doing a headstand!
Result? Alternating β-glucose units facing up and down.
Now, α-glucose in starch is like a curly slide (helix), but because of this upside-down dance, cellulose β-glucose remains straight.
Unlock the Full Content!
Dive deeper and gain exclusive access to premium files of Biology HL. Subscribe now and get closer to that 45 🌟