Amino Acids

Made by Mudassar Zahoor Qureshi

 AMINO ACID
•Definition:
•Amino acids consists of one amino group and one
carboxyl group.
•The key elements of an amino acid are carbon,
hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen.
•General Formula:
Their general formula is given below
Types of Amino Acids
There are two types of amino acids
1. Essential amino acids
2. Non-essential amino acids
 Essential amino acids
Those amino acids which our body cannot prepare but
are to be taken through diet. These amino acids are
required by our body.
 Non-essential amino acids
Those amino acids which our body can prepare.
Function of Alkyl (R) Group
The difference in amino acids is due to the variation of R
group.
As R group varies, whole structure and function of
amino acid varies.
For Example

In above structures Glycine has only hydrogen atom in

R group, while Alanine has methyl group.
Classification
Amino acids are classified as follows:
Aliphatic
Aromatic
Polar
Non polar
Acidic
Basic
Acidic Amino Acid
Those amino acids which contain more than one
COOH group are called acidic amino acids.
For Example
Basic Amino Acid
Those amino acid which contain more than one group
of amino group in the molecule are called as basic
amino acids.
For example
Zwitter Ion
Some times amino acids contain a dionic structure i.e.
proton from carboxylic acid group is transferred to amino
group.
Such a structure is called Zwitter ion.

Resultant molecule is called to be a salt of amino acid.

Nomenclature of Amino Acid
Amino acids are named according to their trivial names
not according to their IUPAC names.
For example.
Glycine is derived from a word glycos meaning sweet.
Because of its sweet taste it is named as glycine.
For the sake of simplicity amino acids are represented
shortly by writing just first three letters of theair names.
i.e.
Valine is written as (Val)
Alanine is written as (Ala)
Glycine is written as (Gly) etc.
• Amino Acids are Building Blocks of
Proteins:
1. Thousands of amino acids polymerize to give
proteins.
2. Those proteins in turn form a major portion of our
body.
3. There are 20 amino acids which join to form all the
protein portion of our body.
Peptide Linkage
For protein formation, Amino acids link with each
other by the help of peptide linkage.
The special name given to the amide bond.
i.e. A bond between carboxyl group of one amino acid
and the amino group of other amino acid.
Formation of peptide linkage
Peptide linkage (bond) is formed by the elimination of
water molecule between the amino group of one
amino acid and carboxyl acid group of another.
The reaction is as follows:
Polypeptides
Polypeptides are chains of amino acids.
Polypeptides are essential portions of proteins in cells.
These can work together to form chains.
Thanks