structure of a compound influences its function in many ways like we take example of phospholipid bilayer 1. The fact that the tails are hydrophobic means that they do not interact with water. When a bunch of phospholipids are floating around in water, they try to arrange themselves in a bilayer that shields the hydrophobic parts from water-based, or aqueous, surroundings.
2. The heads are hydrophilic and can then interact with water and other polar or charged substances on either side of the bilayer. The bilayer acts as a barrier that allows cells to maintain internal conditions that are different from external conditions, which is monumentally important for cells to operate properly.
3. Phospholipids demonstrate the intersection of structure and function in another way, too. We already know that fatty acids can be saturated or unsaturated and that unsaturated fatty acids have bends in their chains. Those bends prevent fatty acids from packing close.
