Amino acids

Question 1

What is a amino acid?

Answer 1

• building blcoks of proteins
  
  • vital part of all living systems

Question 2

What do amino acids contain?

Answer 2

two functional groups

• carboxylic acid
• and a priumary amine

Question 3

WHat is a primary amino acid?

Answer 3

the amine group is on the carbon next to the COOH group

General formula

NH₂CHRCOOH

• the structure has a carbon bonded to four different groups
• the molecule is therefore chiral
• almost all amino acids exist as the (-) enantiomer

Question 4

How amino acids have have acid and base properties?

Answer 4

• ghave both an acidic and a basic functional group
• the carboxylic acid group has a tendency to loose a proton
  
  • therefore is acidic
• the amine group has a tendancy to accept a proton
  
  • act as a base

Question 5

What are zwitterions?

Answer 5

• amino acids act as zwitterions
• ions like these have both a permanent positive charge and apermanent negative charge, though the compound is neutral overall

Question 6

What are the properties of amino acids due to there ionic?

Answer 6

• high melting points
• dissolve well in water but poorly in non-polar solvent
• white solid at room temp and behaves much like an ionic salt

Question 7

What happens in strongly acidic conditions?

Answer 7

• the lone pair of the H2N gorup accepts a proton to form the positive ion
• the amino group has gained a hydrogen ion - it is protonated

Question 8

What happens in strongly alkaline solutions?

Answer 8

• the -OH group loses a proton to form the negative ion
• the carboxylic acid group has lost a hydrogen ion - it is deprotonated