Unit 4 amino acids

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What are amino acids?
bifunctional organic compounds that contain both the amino group and the carboxylic acid group
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What is a naturally occuring a-amino acids and how many are there?
naturally occuring amino acids that have the amino group on the carbon next to the carboxyl group, there are 20 of these and they differ only by their R group
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What do all amino acids have? and what is the exception?
optical isomers, the exception is glycine
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Which optical isomers of amino acids occur naturally in body proteins?
the D-isomers
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Do amino acids act as acids or bases?
both
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How do amino acids act in alkali solution?
the carboxylc acid group is deprotonated
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How do amino acids act in acidic solution?
the amino group is protonated
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What is a zwitterion?
a formation where the amino group is protonated (becomes positive) and the carboxylic acid group is deprotonated (becomes negative)
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Why do amino acids form zwitterions?
amino acids can never exist as uncharged compounds. At its isoelectric pH, it has no net charge, so forms zwitterions.
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How can two amino acids react together?
in a condensation reaction to form a peptide group
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What is a peptide group?
CONH (containing the C-N peptide bond)
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What is a polypeptide?
the product of some condesation reactions, whereby more than 2 amino acids join together. This is the primary structure of a protein
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How can a helical shape be formed between amino acids?
because of the hydrogen bonding between the N-H and C=O groups, this is the secondary structure of a protein
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How can polypeptides be hydrolysed?
into their constituent amino acids by hydrolysing the peptide bonds between them.
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What are the conditions for the hydrolysis of polypeptides?
Heat and 5M HCl for 24 hours
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

What is a naturally occuring a-amino acids and how many are there?

Back

naturally occuring amino acids that have the amino group on the carbon next to the carboxyl group, there are 20 of these and they differ only by their R group

Card 3

Front

What do all amino acids have? and what is the exception?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

Which optical isomers of amino acids occur naturally in body proteins?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

Do amino acids act as acids or bases?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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