Triglycerides and phospholipids form when fatty acids condense with glycerol, producing ester bonds and water molecules during lipid synthesis reactions.
Coverage 2024–2024 · Updated 15 Jul 2026
Triglycerides and phospholipids form when glycerol reacts with fatty acids in condensation reactions that create ester bonds.
Each ester bond joins a hydroxyl group of glycerol to a carboxyl group of a fatty acid and releases water. The number and type of attached groups then determine whether the molecule is mainly for storage or membrane structure.
For a synthesis diagram, count:
Attaching three fatty acids to glycerol forms a triglyceride and releases three water molecules; replacing one tail with a phosphate-containing group gives a phospholipid.
A phospholipid is not simply a triglyceride with fewer tails. Its phosphate-containing head changes polarity and therefore its behaviour in water.
This objective is assessed through structured response, commonly using State / Identify / Describe.
State / Identify / Describe
Build the answer around this relationship: Triglycerides contain glycerol joined to three fatty acids.
Naming hydrolysis instead of condensation when fatty acids join glycerol.
Representative question
Identify the molecule that was used to form part Y of the triglyceride.
B1.1 becomes easy when every answer follows structure -> property -> function. Carbon skeletons and functional groups create molecular diversity. Condensation builds larger molecules and hydrolysis breaks them. Alpha-glucose stores energy as starch and glycogen; beta-glucose forms strong cellulose. Surface carbohydrates enable recognition. Lipids are hydrophobic, triglycerides store energy, phospholipids self-assemble into bilayers, and steroids cross membranes because they are mostly non-polar.
