Biomolecules
5.0 Amino Acids
5.0 Amino Acids
- They are bifunctional compounds containing amino ($-NH_2$) and carboxyl ($-COOH$) functional groups.
- General Formulae:
- They are usually colourless, crystalline solids, water soluble, high melting solids and behave like salts rather than simple amines or carboxylic acids.
- It shows dipolar nature and are called amphoteric. In neutral amino acid solution, the $–COOH$ group loses a proton and the $–NH_2$ of the same molecule picks up one. The resulting ion is dipolar, but electrically neutral. This is called Zwitter ion.
