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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2001  > September  >
In the Classroom
Concepts in Biochemistry
Ethanol Metabolism and the Transition from Organic Chemistry to Biochemistry
Richard D. Feinman
Department of Biochemistry, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY 11203-2098
Cover
September 2001
Vol. 78 No. 9
p. 1215
Abstract
To ease the transition from organic chemistry at the beginning of a biochemistry course or at the beginning of the metabolism section of the organic course, an early presentation of the oxidation of ethanol is proposed. Alcohol dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase reactions can smooth the introduction to biochemistry, since they involve three of the simplest compounds: ethanol, acetaldehyde, and acetic acid. Using these reactions as a model encourages the study of metabolic pathways by a systematic approach rather than by rote memorization. Reactions that can be presented as variations on a theme include methanol poisoning, the polyol reaction, and, most important, the sequence glycerol-3-phosphate to glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate to 3-phosphoglyceric acid. This last sequence integrates lipid and carbohydrate metabolism and, by comparison with the model reaction, brings out the principles of substrate-level phosphorylation. The method has evoked favorable verbal feedback from students and, in addition to medical and graduate courses, has been successfully used in the biochemical section of an undergraduate organic course.
More Information
*  Citation
 Feinman, Richard D. J. Chem. Educ. 2001 78 1215.
*  Keywords
 Biochemistry; Metabolism; Organic Chemistry; Redox Reactions
*  History
 Created:
Last Updated:		 August 14, 2001
August 31, 2005
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