"Chemistry of Carbohydrates and Amino Acids: Foundations of Biomolecules"
This comprehensive document delves into the fundamental principles of carbohydrate and amino acid chemistry, crucial components of biochemistry. It provides an in-depth exploration of:
*Carbohydrates:*
- Classificati...
Introduction
Proteins are the most versatile macromolecules in living systems and serve crucial
functions in essentially all biological processes. They function as catalysts, hormones,
transport and storage of other molecules such as oxygen, provide mechanical support and
immune protection, generate movement, and transmit nerve impulses and control growth
and differentiation. Despite the wide range of protein functions, the proteins constitute
basically of amino acids as their building blocks. However, amino acids are key
biochemicals on their own right. Some amino acids function as signal molecules such as
neurotransmitters, and all amino acids are precursors to other biomolecules, such as
hormones, nucleic acids and lipids.
Although, proteins may also contain substances other than amino acids, 3-dimensional
structures and thus the biological properties are determined largely by the kinds of amino
acids present, the other in which they are linked together in a polypeptide chain, and
thereby the spatial relationship of one amino acid to another.
AMINO ACIDS
An α-amino acid consists of a central carbon atom, called the α carbon, linked to an
amino group (-NH2), a carboxylic acid group (-COOH), a hydrogen atom, and a
distinctive R group. The R group is often referred to as the side chain. With four different
groups connected to the tetrahedral α-carbon atom, α-amino acids are chiral: they may
exist in one or the other of two mirror-image forms, called the L isomer and the D isomer.
Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins.
General structure of an amino acid
1
,Although there are about 300 amino acids that occurs in nature, only 20 of these occur in
protein, and are called standard amino acids. These standard amino acids have been
assigned three-letter abbreviations and one-letter symbols, which are used as short hand
to indicate the composition and sequence of amino acids in proteins.
Classification of Amino acids
There are different ways of classifying amino acids. Here, we consider the classification
of amino acids into four different ways.
I) Classification of amino acids based on their structure and chemical nature.
II) Classification of amino acids based on polarity.
III) Classification of amino acids based on nutritional requirement.
IV) Classification of amino acids based on metabolic fate etc.
I) Classification of amino acids based on their structure and chemical nature
Amino acids can be classified based on their structure and chemical nature. Each amino
acid is assigned a 3 letter or 1 letter symbol. These symbols are commonly used to
represent the amino acids in protein structure. The 20 standard amino acids found in
proteins are divided into seven (7) different groups based on the chemical nature of their
R group or side chain. There are amino acids with aliphatic R-group, those with hydroxyl
group in their side chain, those with sulphur containing R-group, and those with aromatic
R-group. There are also amino acids with acidic R-groups and those containing amide
side chains. There are indeed, amino acids containing basic R-groups. There is also imino
containing R-group amino acid. The table below shows a classification of amino acids
based on the structure and chemical nature of their R-groups.
2
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