2.15 Saponifiable and Non saponifiable Lipids

• Saponifiable lipid

  • A lipid that undergoes hydrolysis in basic solution to yield two or more smaller product molecules. As a result of hydrolysis, a saponifiable lipid is broken up into smaller component parts.
• Nonsaponifiable lipid

  • A lipid that does not undergo hydrolysis in basic solution. Such lipids cannot be broken up into smaller component parts using hydrolysis.
• Linkage makeup:

  • Triacylglycerols— 3 ester bonds
  • Glycerophospholipids— 4 ester bonds
  • Sphingophospholipids— 1 amide and 2 ester bonds
  • Sphingoglycolipids— 1 amide, 1 ester, and 1 glycosidic bond
  • Biological waxes— 1 ester bond
• Type of Linkage (bonds)

  • Determines whether a lipid is saponifiable or nonsaponifiable.
• 3 types of linkages found in lipids:

  • Ester linkage
  • Amide linkage
  • Glycosidic linkage
• All 3 types of linkages can be hydrolyzed (broken) by reaction with water.
• Classify the lipids on the diagram

  A) Saponifiable lipids

  B) Nonsaponifiable lipids

  
• Non saponifiable lipids have 2 things in common:

  1. Only 1 building block is present.
  2. There is no need for linkages