Compare the Difference Between Similar Terms

Difference Between

Home / Science & Nature / Science / Chemistry / Organic Chemistry / Difference Between Thymine and Thymidine

Difference Between Thymine and Thymidine

May 5, 2020 Posted by Madhu

The key difference between thymine and thymidine is that thymine is a nucleobase, whereas thymidine is a nucleoside.

The term thymine and thymidine occur in biochemistry and organic chemistry as structures related to nucleic acids. Nucleic acid such as DNA and RNA are composed of nucleotides. A nucleotide contains a nucleobase, sugar molecule and a phosphate group. The combination of a nucleobase with a sugar forms a nucleoside.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Thymine 
3. What is Thymidine
4. Side by Side Comparison – Thymine vs Thymidine in Tabular Form
5. Summary

What is Thymine?

Thymine is a type of nucleobase having the chemical formula C5H6N2O2. It is an organic compound having the molar mass 126.15 g/mol. It is one of the four major nucleobases in nucleic acids of DNA. The other three nucleobases are guanine, cytosine and adenine. This nucleobase falls under the category of pyrimidine. This nucleobase is absent in RNA; it has uracil instead of thymine.

Key Difference - Thymine vs Thymidine

Figure 01: Chemical Structure of Thymine

When considering the properties of thymine, it pairs with adenine in DNA structures. Thymine is derived from the methylation of uracil at 5th carbon; therefore, it is called 5-methyluracil. Thymine can bind with adenine via a double bond. This double bond is a pair of hydrogen bonds. These two hydrogen bonds are helpful in stabilizing the DNA structure and nucleobase structure as well.

Formation of thymine dimers is a common type of mutation in DNA. Here, a pair of adjacent thymine or cytosine forms thymine dimers (formation of bonds between consecutive nucleobases) that cause the formation of kinks that can inhibit the normal function of DNA. Apart from that, thymine bases can be oxidized to form hydantoins. This occurs after the death of an organism.

What is Thymidine?

Thymidine is a type of pyrimidine deoxynucleoside having the chemical formula C10H14N2O5. The molar mass of this organic compound is 242.23 g/mol. It is a nucleoside formed from the combination of thymine and deoxyribose sugar. This nucleoside can be phosphorylated to form nucleotides. Here, it may undergo phosphorylation with one phosphate group (this forms deoxythymidine monophosphate), with two phosphate groups (forming deoxythymidine diphosphate) or with three phosphate groups (forming three phosphate groups).

Difference Between Thymine and Thymidine

Figure 02: Chemical Structure of Thymidine

Thymidine can exist in vitro conditions as a solid (as white crystals or as white crystalline powder). Under standard temperature and pressure, the stability of this compound is very high. As a part of DNA structure, thymidine occurs in living organisms (also in DNA viruses). Therefore, it is a non-toxic compound. In RNA, there is uridine instead of thymidine. Uridine is formed from the combination of uracil with ribose sugar.

What is the Difference Between Thymine and Thymidine?

The key difference between thymine and thymidine is that thymine is a nucleobase, whereas thymidine is a nucleoside. Besides, thymine is a type of nucleobase having the chemical formula C5H6N2O2 while thymidine is a type of pyrimidine deoxynucleoside having the chemical formula C10H14N2O5.

Moreover, thymine is a single planar molecule while thymidine is a combination of two molecules; ribose sugar and thymine.

The following table summarizes the difference between thymine and thymidine.

Difference Between Thymine and Thymidine in Tabular Form

Summary – Thymine vs Thymidine

The term thymine and thymidine come in biochemistry and organic chemistry as structures related to nucleic acids. The key difference between thymine and thymidine is that thymine is a nucleobase, whereas thymidine is a nucleoside.

Reference:

1. “Thymine.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 24 Apr. 2020, Available here.
2. “Thymidine.” Thymidine – an Overview | ScienceDirect Topics, Available here.
3. Thymidine.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 16 May 2019, Available here.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Thymine skeletal” By Daveryan at English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Desoxythymidin” By NEUROtiker – Own work (Public Domain) via Commons Wikimedia

Related posts:

Difference Between Benzene and PhenolDifference Between Benzene and Phenol Difference Between Carbonyl and KetoneDifference Between Carbonyl and Ketone Difference Between Binary Acids and OxyacidsDifference Between Binary Acids and Oxyacids Difference Between Position Isomerism and MetamerismDifference Between Position Isomerism and Metamerism Difference Between Alkyl and Aryl GroupDifference Between Alkyl and Aryl Group

Filed Under: Organic Chemistry

About the Author: Madhu

Madhu is a graduate in Biological Sciences with BSc (Honours) Degree and currently persuing a Masters Degree in Industrial and Environmental Chemistry. With a mind rooted firmly to basic principals of chemistry and passion for ever evolving field of industrial chemistry, she is keenly interested to be a true companion for those who seek knowledge in the subject of chemistry.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Request Article

Featured Posts

Difference Between Coronavirus and Cold Symptoms

Difference Between Coronavirus and Cold Symptoms

Difference Between Coronavirus and SARS

Difference Between Coronavirus and SARS

Difference Between Coronavirus and Influenza

Difference Between Coronavirus and Influenza

Difference Between Coronavirus and Covid 19

Difference Between Coronavirus and Covid 19

You May Like

Difference Between Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate

Difference Between Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate

Difference Between Bioreactor and Fermentor

Difference Between Bioreactor and Fermentor

Difference Between Chain of Command and Span of Control

Difference Between Chain of Command and Span of Control

Difference Between Natural and Synthetic Fibers

Difference Between Naphthenes and Aromatics

Difference Between Naphthenes and Aromatics

Latest Posts

  • Difference Between Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter
  • Difference Between Cis and Trans Fat
  • Difference Between Temporary and Permanent Hardness of Water
  • Difference Between Electroporation and Microinjection
  • Difference Between Metal Excess Defect and Metal Deficiency Defect
  • Difference Between pre-mRNA and mRNA
  • Home
  • Vacancies
  • About
  • Request Article
  • Contact Us

Copyright © 2010-2018 Difference Between. All rights reserved. Terms of Use and Privacy Policy: Legal.