1.6 Proteins

Question 1

Structure of an amino acid

Answer 1

Every amino acid has a central carbon atom, bonded to four different chemical groups:

• amino group (-NH₂) → a basic group from which the amino part of the name is derived
• carboxyl group (-COOH) → an acidic group which gives the amino acid the acid part of its name
• hydrogen atom (-H)
• R group → a variety of different chemical groups, each amino acid has a different R group