Hydrogen Bond: Definition and Facts

There are a variety of bonds in biochemistry that are essential to life and hydrogen bond is one of them, and it is a susceptible chemical bond that does exist in most of the biological molecules like DNA and water. The hydrogen bond occurs when one or extra hydrogen atoms are covalently bonded to one or more electronegative atom, but it is receives attracted to another electronegative atom.
Importance in Water (H2O)
The bonding of hydrogen plays a vast role in water molecules. First, it contributes to various fundamental properties of the water that makes it synonymous with life. The bonding gives water the capacity to remain in a liquid form in a variation of temperatures that are in different parts of the earth surface which are a very vital component.

In figure 1, illustrates how two water molecules interact when forming a hydrogen bond. Therefore, when other molecules such as CO2 change their nature from liquid to gas at high temperatures, the hydrogen bonds in water enables it to retain its liquid form. Hence, making it available for use by human beings and other biological organisms that require it to maintain life in such high-temperature areas, hence making hydrogen bonding an essential component for life.

Fig 1. An interaction between water molecules to form a hydrogen bond

Hydrogen bonding makes water to require a large amount of heat of heat to break the bonds and transform the water from the liquid form to gas. This gives water the stabilizing quality to the temperature hence becoming an important component for the survival of life on the planet earth, and this explains the existence of moderate temperatures near large water bodies. Figure 2 shows how water molecules behave in osmotic pressures with high temperatures as the oxygen atoms in the water are directed towards the calcium ions (Ca++). The existence of the hydrogen bonds also exist in the sweats which give it the cooling ability of the living mammals due to the high temperature that would be required to break the hydrogen bonds, and this keeps the animals safe in hot regions. Therefore, as other compounds undergo ionization, water still manages to retain its chemical integrity.

Fig. 2. On interactions, water molecules in osmotic pressures with high temperatures as the oxygen atoms in the water are directed towards the calcium ions (Ca++).

In summary, hydrogen bonding gives water the three most important features that enable it to save life on the planet earth, and they include; a high melting point, density, and surface tension.

Formation of the DNA

The small mutations that exist in the coding of the DNA stand are as a result of the hydrogen bonds, and they help in bringing various changes as it forms a firm double helix structure. There are harmful mutations such as Huntington’s chorea that can affect the DNA when not protected; therefore, the protection by the hydrogen bonds is one of the components that contributes to the DNA’s double helix structure that ensures its stability to keep it safe. Figure 3 is an illustration of Guanine (G) and Cytosine (C) bonding that contain three hydrogen ions that keep the DNA structure stronger that one hydrogen bond. When the bonding brings more than one hydrogen together, the structure that is formed is stronger due to the quality of hydrogen ions that requires a high temperature to melt.

Figure 3. G – C Hydrogen Bonding