What functional feature(s) does the phosphate group contribute to the structure of a phospholipid?
2 answers:
Phosphate groups play a role in the hydrophilic nature of phospholipids so that phospholipids are good emulsifiers because they can be attracted to water or oil
<h3>Further explanation</h3>Lipids are a group of compounds which are generally not soluble in water but dissolve in non-polar organic solvents such as ether
Lipids themselves are divided into two groups, namely hydrolyzed lipids, and non-hydrolyzed lipids
Hydrolyzed lipids, for example, such as fat, and phospholipids
While lipids that are not hydrolyzed are steroids
Phospholipids are esters of glycerol but not all the OH groups are replaced by fatty acids (carboxylic acids)
Only R1 and R2 are replaced by carboxylic acids while R3 is replaced by phosphoric acid and choline or ethanolamine both contain Nitrogen
Phospholipids themselves are amphiphilic because their tails are hydrophobic (afraid of water) and nonpolar while their heads are hydrophilic (like water) and polar
This phosphoric acid bond with Nitrogen (choline/ethanolamine) compounds makes phospholipids a good emulsifier because they can be attracted to water and also oil.
<h3>Learn more</h3>
A structural difference between triglycerides and phospholipids
two organic functional groups in a phospholipid
the structure of a phospholipid
Keywords: phospholipid, emulsifier, hydrophobic, hydrophilic
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