Amino acids are, as the name suggests, both amines (basic) and acids (acidic, of course). They fall into the category of compounds known as zwitterions: chemicals that have an acidic part and a basic part in the same molecule.
They are acids because they are electron donors in a chemical bonding. The "amino" part of the name stems from the fact that they all have an amine group ( -NH2 ) at one end.Amino acids are called...
Amino acids all contain the carboxyl group (-CO2H), which is acidic. If named by IUPAC nomenclature they would be referred to as acids as well. For example glycine, the simplest amino acid, would be...
Related ads:
Shopping for Biology deals?
Find Coupons and Promo Codes on Coupons by Answers.com