What are amino acids easy definition?
Amino acids are molecules that combine to form proteins and amino acids and proteins are the building blocks of life.
Amino Acids Formula
They are composed of an amino group (-NH2), a carboxyl group (-COOH), and a side chain or "R" group that varies depending on the specific amino acid.
The general formula for an amino acid
Where H2N is the amino group, CHR is the carbon chain, and COOH is the carboxyl group. The "R" group is different for each of the 20 standard amino acids.
The general formula for an amino acid is:
H2N-CHR-COOH
Where H2N is the amino group, CHR is the carbon chain, and COOH is the carboxyl group.
The "R" group varies for each of the 20 standard amino acids, which are:
- Alanine - Ala - A - CH3
- Arginine - Arg - R - (CH2)3NH-CNH
- Asparagine - Asn - N - CH2CONH2
- Aspartic acid - Asp - D - CH2COOH
- Cysteine - Cys - C - CH2SH
- Glutamic acid - Glu - E - (CH2)2COOH
- Glutamine - Gln - Q - (CH2)2CONH2
- Glycine - Gly - G - H
- Histidine - His - H - (CH2)3NHCN
- Isoleucine - Ile - I - CH(CH3)CH2CH3
- Leucine - Leu - L - CH2CH(CH3)2
- Lysine - Lys - K - (CH2)4NH2
- Methionine - Met - M - CH2CH2SCH3
- Phenylalanine - Phe - F - C6H5CH2
- Proline - Pro - P - CH2CH2CH2
- Serine - Ser - S - CH2OH
- Threonine - Thr - T - CH(OH)CH3
- Tryptophan - Trp - W - C11H8N2O2
- Tyrosine - Tyr - Y - C6H4OHCH2
- Valine - Val - V - (CH3)2CH
Properties of Amino AcidÂ
Â
Structure of Amino AcidÂ
Classification of Amino Acid
The function of amino acid
