a. Find a biopolymer and briefly describe its chemical composition, whether it w

Question

a. Find a biopolymer and briefly describe its chemical composition, whether it would be considered an addition polymer or condensation polymer and its important physical properties. How prevalent is the polymer in nature and what does the organism that produces it use it for? Be sure to include your source.

b. The degradation of some condensation polymers by water is referred to as hydrolysis. Using poly( -decalactone) as an example, draw a proposed mechanism for the acid catalyzed hydrolysis of this polyester.

Explanation / Answer

Biopolymers are polymers produced by living organisms; in other words, they are polymeric biomolecules. Since they are polymers, biopolymers contain monomeric units that are covalently bonded to form larger structures. There are three main classes of biopolymers, classified according to the monomeric units used and the structure of the biopolymer formed: polynucleotides (RNA and DNA), which are long polymers composed of 13 or more nucleotide monomers; polypeptides, which are short polymers of amino acids; and polysaccharides, which are often linear bonded polymeric carbohydrate structures.

Cellulose is the most common organic compound and biopolymer on Earth.

The most abundant monosaccharide in the carbohydrate composition of durian seed gum were galactose (48.6-59.9%), glucose (37.1-45.1%), arabinose (0.58-3.41%), and xylose (0.3-3.21%). The predominant fatty acid of the lipid fraction from the durian seed gum were palmitic acid (C16:0), palmitoleic acid (C16:1), stearic acid (C18:0), oleic acid (C18:1), linoleic acid (C18:2), and linolenic acid (C18:2). The most abundant amino acids of durian seed gum were: leucine (30.9-37.3%), lysine (6.04-8.36%), aspartic acid (6.10-7.19%), glycine (6.07-7.42%), alanine (5.24-6.14%), glutamic acid (5.57-7.09%), valine (4.5-5.50%), proline (3.87-4.81%), serine (4.39-5.18%), threonine (3.44-6.50%), isoleucine (3.30-4.07%), and phenylalanine (3.11-9.04%).

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