A list of tricks to help you remember the amino acids

Structures

Names (letter code)

Side chain features/description

Aliphatic
H
H C COOH
NH 2

Glycine (G) hydrogen for R, most simple, optically inactive

H
CH3 C COOH
NH 2

Alanine (A) methyl for R, a simple functional group to start just

like A (in alanine) starts the alphabet

CH3

CH C COOH
CH3

NH 2

Valine (V)

simple again, but shaped like the V in its name

CH3
CH

CH2

CH3

C COOH
NH 2

Leucine (L) valine extended by one methylene

H
CH3

CH2

CH C COOH
CH3 NH 2

Isoleucine (I)

lopsided valine....?

COOH
N
H
Proline (P)

3 carbon chain to prolines own nitrogen,

structurally special and found in turns

Sulfur-containing
H
CH3

CH2

CH2

C COOH
NH 2

Methionine (M) special - starts every protein, 3 carbons with a

thioether; methyl-blocked sulfhydryl...?

H
HS

CH2

C COOH
NH 2

Cysteine (C) sulfhydryl alanine, reactive, can form disulfides

2001 by Jeff Dahlseid

Aromatic
H
CH2

C COOH
NH 2

Phenylalanine (F) alanine with a phenol group which you

KNOW is aromatic, the Y in phenyl can
remind you which 3 amino acids with names
beginning with T (the Ts) are aromatics
H

HO

CH2

C COOH
NH 2

Tyrosine (Y)

hydroxylated phenylalanine, one of 3 Ts

that has Y in its name so it is an aromatic

H
CH2

C COOH
NH 2

N
H
Tryptophan (W)

one of 3 Ts with a Y so it is aromatic, will

tryp you up because it is hard to remember,
has a 3 carbon start to N (or indole ring on
methylene)

Aliphatic hydroxyl
H
HO

CH2

C COOH
NH 2

Serine (S)

hydroxyl alanine

Threonine (T)

one of 3 Ts, without Y so aliphatic (also

its symbol is the first letter of its name like
the other aliphatics), its threo parts are
methyl, hydroxyl, and hydrogen on a single C

OH H
CH3 C
H

C COOH
NH 2

2001 by Jeff Dahlseid

Acidic - negative charges

H

OC

CH2

C COOH
NH 2

Aspartate (D)

carboxyl alanine with acidic nature noted

by suffix ate, the alphabetical ordering of
the first letter of their names correlates with
an increase in length of side chain

Glutamate (E)

aspartate plus one methylene, G is after A

OC

CH2 CH2 C COOH

NH 2

Basic - positive charges

H
NH 2 C NH
NH 2

(CH2 )3

C COOH
NH 2

Arginine (R)

3 carbon chain linked to a C full of only Ns

(no Hs & C has 4 bonds) through an N

H
+

NH 3

(CH2 )4

C COOH
NH 2
Lysine (K)

+H

3 carbon chain plus one methylene to amino,

it lies (Lys) about the 3 carbon trend

N
CH2

N
H

C COOH
NH 2
Histidine (H)

3 carbons to N and loop back through C n N

Amide derivatives of acids - loose OH for NH2 to loose charge

H

NH 2
C

CH2

C COOH
NH 2

amide derivative of aspartate

NH 2
C
O

Asparagine (N)

CH2

CH2

C COOH
NH 2

Glutamine (Q)

amide derivative of glutamate

For 3-D visualization, see: http://chemistry.gsu.edu/glactone/PDB/Amino_Acids/aa.html

For RasMol download, see: http://www.umass.edu/microbio/rasmol/

2001 by Jeff Dahlseid