CHON

This article is about the chemical elements of biochemistry. For people named Chon, see Chon (name). For other uses, see Chon (disambiguation).

CHON is a mnemonic acronym for the four most common elements in living organisms: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen.

The relative atomic diameters of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur

The acronym CHNOPS, which stands for carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, sulfur, represents the six most important chemical elements whose covalent combinations make up most biological molecules on Earth. They were created in stars in outer space a long time ago and when a supernova occurred, these elements were sent into space. ^[1] All of these elements are nonmetals.

Element	Mass in plants	Mass in animals	Biological uses
Carbon	12%	19%	Found in carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids, and proteins.
Hydrogen	10%	10%	Found in carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids, and proteins.
Nitrogen	1%	4%	Found in nucleic acids, proteins and some lipids (E.G sphingolipids)
Oxygen	77%	63%	Found in carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids, and proteins.
Phosphorus	<1%	<1%	Found in lipids and nucleic acids.
Sulfur	<1%	<1%	Found in proteins.

In the human body, these four elements compose about 96% of the weight, and major minerals (macrominerals) and minor minerals (also called trace elements) compose the remainder.^[2]

Sulfur is contained in the amino acids cysteine and methionine.^[3] Phosphorus is contained in phospholipids, a class of lipids that are a major component of all cell membranes, as they can form lipid bilayers, which keep ions, proteins, and other molecules where they are needed for cell function, and prevent them from diffusing into areas where they should not be. Phosphate groups are also an essential component of the backbone of nucleic acids (general name for DNA & RNA) and are required to form ATP – the main molecule used as energy powering the cell in all living creatures.^[4]

Carbonaceous asteroids are rich in CHON elements.^[5] These asteroids are the most common type, and frequently collide with Earth as meteorites. Such collisions were especially common early in Earth's history, and these impactors may have been crucial in the formation of the planet's oceans.^[6]

The simplest compounds to contain all of the CHON elements are isomers fulminic acid (HCNO), isofulminic acid (HONC), cyanic acid (HOCN) and isocyanic acid (HNCO), having one of each atom.^[7]

See also

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to CHNOPS.

• Abundance of the chemical elements
• Carbon-based life
• Biochemistry
• Bioinorganic chemistry

References

1. Education (2010). "CHNOPS: The Six Most Abundant Elements of Life". Pearson Education. Pearson BioCoach. from the original on 27 July 2017. Retrieved 10 December 2010. Most biological molecules are made from covalent combinations of six important elements, whose chemical symbols are CHNOPS. ... Although more than 25 types of elements can be found in biomolecules, six elements are most common. These are called the CHNOPS elements; the letters stand for the chemical abbreviations of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur.
2. "Atoms & Life". 27 September 2009. from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
3. Brosnan JT, Brosnan ME (June 2006). "The sulfur-containing amino acids: an overview". The Journal of Nutrition. 136 (6 Suppl): 1636S–1640S. doi:10.1093/jn/136.6.1636S. PMID 16702333. Archived from the original on 13 January 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
4. Campbell, Neil A.; Brad Williamson; Robin J. Heyden (2006). Biology: Exploring Life. Boston, Massachusetts: Pearson Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-250882-6. from the original on 2 November 2014. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
5. Water vs. Rocks: Resources for Earth or for Exploration? 17 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine SSI-TV video archive, recorded on 30 October 2010, 66:07, four talks and Q&A given during Session 2: Extraterrestrial Prospecting of the Space Studies Institute’s Space Manufacturing 14 conference in California. Prof. Michael A'Hearn (University of Maryland) @ 7:10 in the video. The video also includes Brad Blair, Space Studies Institute, and Prof. Leslie Gertsch, University of Missouri-Rolla: Mining Concepts Development for Accessing Asteroid Resources; Mark Sonter, Asteroid Enterprises Pty Ltd Resources: Asteroids: What We Can Expect From What We Know Now; Dr. Faith Vilas, University of Arizona, Department of Astronomy and Steward Observatory, Retrieved 2011-01-07.
6. Morbidelli, A.; et al. (November 2000), "Source regions and time scales for the delivery of water to Earth", Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 35 (6): 1309–1320, Bibcode:2000M&PS...35.1309M, doi:10.1111/j.1945-5100.2000.tb01518.x
7. Lattelais, M.; Pauzat, F.; Ellinger, Y.; Ceccarelli, C. (1 June 2015). "Differential adsorption of CHON isomers at interstellar grain surfaces". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 578: A62. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201526044. ISSN 0004-6361. from the original on 9 January 2022. Retrieved 8 May 2022.

External links

 

Look up CHON or CHNOPS in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.