Draw and explain general structure of …

Amino acids are molecules used to build proteins. All amino acids have a central carbon atom surrounded by a hydrogen atom, a carboxyl group (COOH), an amino group (NH2), and an R-group. An amino acid is a carboxylic acid-containing an aliphatic primary amino group in the α position to the carboxyl group and with a characteristic stereochemistry. Proteins are biosynthesized from 20 amino acids in a system involving strict genetic control. Thus, amino acids are the basic unit of proteins. The general linear formula of an amino acid is R-CH(NH2)-COOH. The 20 common amino acids are grouped in classes according to their side chains: Click here for IMGT classes of the 20 common amino acids 'Physicochemical' properties. Twenty Amino acids can be grouped according to the characteristics of the side chains as follows: Aliphatic – alanine, glycine, isoleucine, leucine, proline, valine. Aromatic – phenylalanine, tryptophan, tyrosine. Acidic – aspartic acid, glutamic acid.