Sodium benzoate is a common food additive used as a preservative. It helps prevent bacteria from degrading the nutrient molecules in food and spoiling it. The sodium benzoate molecule forms when benzoic acid reacts with a basic compound, producing the sodium salt. It's made up of several different elements.
Carbon
The major component of any molecule of life -- by mass, at least -- is the element carbon. This is because of all the elements on the periodic table, carbon provides the best combination of strong, long-lasting bonds and a wide variety of potential bonding patterns, explain Drs. Reginald Garrett and Charles Grisham in their book "Biochemistry." The general shape of any molecule of life comes from its so-called "carbon skeleton." Sodium benzoate contains seven carbon atoms.
Hydrogen
Hydrogen atoms weigh much less than carbon atoms, so they don't dominate the molecules of life by mass, but they do tend to dominate by sheer number. Sodium benzoate is an exception, however, in that it contains only five hydrogen atoms. This is due to the presence of a carbon-rich and hydrogen-poor group called a benzene ring that comprises the majority of the molecule.
Oxygen
The most reactive element on a sodium benzoate molecule is oxygen; there are two oxygen atoms on the molecule, and together with one of sodium benzoate's carbon atoms, they form a group called a carboxylate, explain Drs. Mary Campbell and Shawn Farrell in their book "Biochemistry." This group is responsible for sodium benzoate's activity as a preservative agent. Together, the oxygen atoms also share sodium benzoate's single negative charge.
Sodium
The final element incorporated into the structure of sodium benzoate is sodium. Unlike the oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon atoms in the molecule -- which are held together by strong molecular bonds involving pairs of shared electrons -- the sodium atom has a positive charge and is held in place only through attraction to the negative charge shared by the molecule's oxygen atoms. This attraction disappears when the molecule dissolves in water, and the sodium separates from the rest of the benzoate molecule. This doesn't affect functionality, however.
References
- "Biochemistry"; Reginald Garrett, Ph.D. and Charles Grisham, Ph.D.; 2007
- "Biochemistry"; Mary Campbell, Ph.D. and Shawn Farrell, Ph.D.; 2005
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