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Protein structure is the three-dimensional arrangement of atoms in an amino acid-chain molecule. Proteins are polymers – specifically polypeptides – formed from sequences of amino acids, which are the monomers of the polymer. A single amino acid monomer may also be called a residue, which indicates a
Like other polymers, biopolymers consist of monomeric units that are covalently bonded in chains to form larger molecules. There are three main classes of biopolymers, classified according to the monomers used and the structure of the biopolymer formed: polynucleotides, polypeptides, and polysaccharides.
Resonance structures of the peptide bond that links individual amino acids to form a protein polymer Main articles: Biochemistry , Amino acid , and Peptide bond Most proteins consist of linear polymers built from series of up to 20 L -α-amino acids.
The condensation of two amino acids to form a dipeptide. The two amino acid residues are linked through a peptide bond. As both the amine and carboxylic acid groups of amino acids can react to form amide bonds, one amino acid molecule can react with another and become joined through an amide linkage.
The sequence of the amino acids in the polypeptide backbone is known as the primary structure of the protein. Like almost all polymers, protein fold and twist, forming into the secondary structure, which is rigidified by hydrogen bonding between the carbonyl oxygens and amide hydrogens in the backbone, i.e. C=O---HN. Further interactions ...
One important class of condensation polymers are polyamides. [4] They arise from the reaction of carboxylic acid and an amine. Examples include nylons and proteins. When prepared from amino-carboxylic acids, e.g. amino acids, the stoichiometry of the polymerization includes co-formation of water: n H 2 N-X-CO 2 H → [HN-X-C(O)] n + (n-1) H 2 O
All polyamides are made by the formation of an amide function to link two molecules of monomer together. The monomers can be amides themselves (usually in the form of a cyclic lactam such as caprolactam), α,ω-amino acids or a stoichiometric mixture of a diamine and a diacid. Both these kinds of precursors give a homopolymer.
DNA, RNA, and proteins all consist of a repeating structure of related building blocks (nucleotides in the case of DNA and RNA, amino acids in the case of proteins). In general, they are all unbranched polymers, and so can be represented in the form of a string.