Bio Chemistry

BIOCHEMISTRY 3(2+1)

Lesson 11 : Amino Acids – Classification, Properties and Peptide bonds

Introduction

Amino Acids: Structural Monomers Amino acids derive their name due to the presence of an amine group and a carboxylic group as part of their composition. They have a central carbon with the amine group, a carboxyl group, a hydrogen, and a variable group (R group) attached to it. The variable group is what is different from amino acid to amino acid and it is what give the amino acid its identity. There are twenty different variable groups, therefore there are twenty different amino acids.