Phospholipids

Memory Hack💡

Glycerol is the “short” word→ short backbone! Aka, it has the 3 carbon backbone. This also works for sphingosine, which is a long, complicated word and has a long carbon backbone.

Notes

Glycerol (the most common): These have a 3-carbon glycerol backbone that is attached to two fatty acid chains and a phosphate-containing head group. The fatty acids are linked to glycerol by ester bonds.

Sphingolipids: Instead of glycerol, these lipids are built on a long 18-carbon sphingosine backbone. Sphingolipids are especially abundant in nerve tissue, where they play important roles in cell membranes and myelin.

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