Ch27: Amino acids

Chapter 27: Amino Acids, Peptides, Proteins and Nucleic Acids

Amino Acids

As the name implies, amino acids contain an amine and a carboxylic acid functional group.
These functional groups dominate their physical and chemical properties.
There are over 700 naturally occurring amino acids.
Amino acids are classified according to the relative position of the functional groups. The following table shows 3 simple examples:

1,1- = α amino acid, for example, glycine.

1,2- = β amino acid, for example, β-alanine.

1,3- = γ amino acid, for example, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)