What are the building blocks of lipids?

Lipids consist of a glycerol molecule linked with at least one and a maximum of three fatty acids.

Lipids are molecules which contain a glycerol molecule, a carbohydrate, and at least one fatty acid.

Glycerol has three ##”OH”## groups, which allow fatty acids – which have a ##”COOH”## group – to link to them with a condensation reaction.

A condensation reaction is a reaction between an ##”OH”## group and a ##”COOH”## group, which links the two molecules together, splitting off a molecule of water:

##”R”-“COOH” + “HO”-“R” -> “R”-“COC”-“R” + “H”_2″O”##

A glycerol molecule, which looks like this:

##”C”-“OH”##
##|##
##”C”-“OH”##
##|##
##”C”-“OH”##

can link with a maximum of three fatty acids, which look like this:

##”HOOC”-“R”## (##”R”## being a rest group)

Glycerol can also link with proteins or carbohydrates, resulting in different forms of lipids.