Saturated fatty acid is a fatty acid carrying the maximum possible number of hydrogen atoms (It doesn’t have any double bounds in the alkyl chain). The most important of these are:
Butyric (butanoic acid) | CH3(CH2)2COOH |
Lauric (dodecanoic acid) | CH3(CH2)10COOH |
Myristic (tetradecanoic acid) | CH3(CH2)12COOH |
Palmitic (hexadecanoic acid) | CH3(CH2)14COOH |
Stearic (octadecanoic acid) | CH3(CH2)16COOH |
Arachidic (eicosanoic acid) | CH3(CH2)18COOH |
Unsaturated fatty acid is a fatty acid whose carbon chain can absorb additional hydrogen atoms. Their carbon chain has one or more double or triple valence bond per molecule. The most important of these are:
Oleic (9-octadecenoic acid) | CH3(CH2)7CH=CH(CH2)7COOH |
Linoleic (9,12-octadecadienoic acid) | CH3(CHCH2)3(CH2CH=CH)2(CHCH2)7COOH |
Linolenic (9,12,15-octadecatrienoic acid) | CH3(CH2CH=CH)3(CHCH2)7COOH |
Acid dissociation constant (Ka) is the equilibrium constant for the dissociation of an acid HA through the reaction
The quantity pKa = -log Ka is often used to express the acid dissociation constant.
Carboxylic acids are organic compounds characterized by the presence of one or more RC(=O)OH groups (the carboxyl group). In the systematic chemical nomenclature carboxylic acids names end in the suffix -oic (e.g. ethanoic acids, CH3COOH). The carbon of the terminal group being counted as part of the chain. They are generally weak acids. Carboxylic acids include a large and important class of fatty acids and may be either saturated or unsaturated. There are also some natural aromatic carboxylic acids (benzoic, salicylic).
Omega-3 fatty acids are polyunsaturated fatty acids, meaning they contain more than one double bond. The name omega-3 indicates that the first double bond occurs on the third carbon atom (n-3) from the methyl (-CH3) end of the molecule (omega position). The three main omega-3 fatty acids are alpha-linolenic acid (ALA, 18:3n-3), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5n-3), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n-3). ALA comes from plants. EPA and DHA come from fish.
Similarly, the first double bond in omega-6 fatty acids is located between the sixth and seventh carbon atom (n-6) from the methyl end of the fatty acid (omega end).
Polyprotonic acids are acids which dissolve in more than one degree.
Nucleotides are the components that made up nucleic acids. They have three major components: the first component is a nitrogenous base, which is derivative of one of two parent compounds, pyrimidine or purine; the second is a pentose, or five carbon sugar group; the third is a unit of phosphate. Each group of three nucleotides in a gene is known as a codon. Whenever the phosphate group is not present, a nucleotide becomes a nucleoside.
Acid halide is organic compound containing the group -COX where X is a halogen atom.
Acid radical is an anion left after removal of hydrogen atoms from an acid.
Generalic, Eni. "Nukleinska kiselina." Croatian-English Chemistry Dictionary & Glossary. 29 June 2022. KTF-Split. {Date of access}. <https://glossary.periodni.com>.
Glossary
Periodic Table