There are four types of chemical bonds essential for life to exist: Ionic Bonds, Covalent Bonds, Hydrogen Bonds, and van der Waals interactions. We need all of these different kinds of bonds to play various roles in biochemical interactions. These bonds vary in their strengths. In Chemistry, we think of Ionic Bonds and Covalent bonds as having an overlapping range of strengths. But remember, in biochemistry, everything is happening in the context of water. This means Ionic bonds tend to dissociate in water. Thus, we will think of these bonds in the following order (strongest to weakest): Covalent, Ionic, Hydrogen, and van der Waals. Also note that in Chemistry, the weakest bonds are more commonly referred to as “dispersion forces.”
There are four types of chemical bonds essential for life to exist
Ionic Bonds: bonds formed between ions with opposite charges
Covalent Bonds: atoms bonded by sharing electrons
Hydrogen Bonds: hydrogen attracts and bonds to neighboring negative charges.
van der Waals interactions: intermolecular interactions that do not involve covalent bonds or ions
We need all of these different kinds of bonds to play various roles in biochemical interactions. These bonds vary
in their strengths. In Chemistry, we think of Ionic Bonds and Covalent bonds as having an overlapping range of
strengths. But remember, in biochemistry, everything is happening in the context of water. This means Ionic
bonds tend to dissociate in water. Thus, we will think of these bonds in the following order (strongest to weakest):
Covalent > Ionic > Hydrogen > van der Waals
Also note that in Chemistry, the weakest bonds are more commonly referred to as “dispersion forces.”
Learn more about the four types of chemical bonds in depth in our educational video below: