Amino Acids Cheat Sheet Structures, Names, Cheat Sheet of Biochemistry

Download Amino Acids Cheat Sheet Structures, Names and more Cheat Sheet Biochemistry in PDF only on Docsity! A list of tricks to help you remember the amino acids Structures Names (letter code) Side chain features/description Aliphatic C H H COOH NH2 Glycine (G) hydrogen for R, most simple, optically inactive C H CH3 NH2 COOH Alanine (A) methyl for R, a simple functional group to start just like “A” (in alanine) starts the alphabet C H NH2 CH CH3 CH3 COOH Valine (V) simple again, but shaped like the “V” in its name C H NH2 COOHCH2CH CH3 CH3 Leucine (L) valine extended by one methylene C H NH2 COOHCH CH3 CH2CH3 Isoleucine (I) lopsided valine....? N COOH H Proline (P) 3 carbon chain to proline’s own nitrogen, structurally “special” and found in turns Sulfur-containing C H NH2 COOHCH2CH2SCH3 Methionine (M) special - starts every protein, 3 carbons with a thioether; methyl-blocked sulfhydryl...? C H NH2 COOHCH2HS Cysteine (C) “sulfhydryl alanine,” reactive, can form disulfides Aromatic H COOH NH2 CCH2 Phenylalanine (F) alanine with a phenol group which you KNOW is aromatic, the “Y” in phenyl can remind you which 3 amino acids with names beginning with T (the “T”s) are aromatics HO CH2 C H COOH NH2 Tyrosine (Y) hydroxylated phenylalanine, one of 3 “T”s that has “Y” in its name so it is an aromatic N CH2 C H NH2 COOH H Tryptophan (W) one of 3 “T”s with a “Y” so it is aromatic, will “tryp” you up because it is hard to remember, has a 3 carbon start to N (or indole ring on methylene) Aliphatic hydroxyl C H NH2 COOHCH2HO Serine (S) “hydroxyl alanine” C C COOHCH3 OH H NH2H Threonine (T) one of 3 “T”s, without “Y” so aliphatic (also its symbol is the first letter of its name like the other aliphatics), its “threo” parts are methyl, hydroxyl, and hydrogen on a single C