Amino acids glutamic acid

MSG is the sodium salt of the amino acid glutamic acid. It is made commercially by the fermentation of molasses, but exists in many products made from fermented proteins, such as soy sauce and hydrolyzed vegetable protein. 

FIGURE 19.18 Sickle-shaped red blood cells form when only one amino acid (glutamic acid) in a polypeptide chain is replaced by another amino acid (valine). These cells are less able to take up oxygen than normal cells. 

For example, the amino acid glutamine is synthesized in cells by the reaction of ammonia with another amino acid, glutamic acid ... 

A group at the Bach Institute in Moscow was able to isolate a flavine pigment (an isoalloxacine derivative) from the polymer obtained by heating a mixture of three amino acids (glutamic acid glycine lysine = 8 3 1) this exhibited photochemical acivity (e.g., redox reactions such as electron transfer to acceptors with lower Eo values) under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions (Kolesnikov and Kritsky, 1999). 

The method is limited in the scope as it has been successfully tried only in two amino acids, glutamic acid and aspartic acid. In others it has resulted only in partial resolution. Harada has now (1965) succeded in resolving free amino acids by inoculation. 

In the personal care market, fatty acid derivatives of proteins and amino acids (glutamic acid) are mainly used in mild shower and bath products, mild shampoos, surfactant-based face cleansers, cold-wave preparations and fixatives, baby wash formulations, as well as special emulsifiers for leave-on products. 

Starting with the fully protonated species, write the stepwise acid dissociation reactions of the amino acids glutamic acid and tyrosine. Be sure to remove the protons in the correct order. Which species are the neutral molecules that we call glutamic acid and tyrosine ... 

Figure 3.4 Hemoglobin transports oxygen and has a quaternary structure that shows how the chains arrange to form the molecule. As shown above, it consists of four polypeptide chains—two identical alpha globin (blue) and two identical beta globin (yellow)—each carrying a heme group (white) with a central iron atom, which bonds to oxygen. The green structure represents the amino acid glutamic acid at residue 6 on the beta chain.

Explain the various pKTa values for these derivatives of the naturally occurring amino acid glutamic acid. Say which pKA belongs to which functional group and explain why they vary in the different derivatives. 

Some hetcrocycles are simple, some very complex, but we cannot live without them. We shall end this chapter with a wonderful story of heterocyclic chemistry at work. Folic acid is much in the news today as a vitamin that is particularly important for pregnant mothers, but that is involved in the metabolism of all living things. Folic acid is built up in nature from three pieces a heterocyclic starting material (red), p-aminobcnzoic acid (black) and the amino acid glutamic acid (green). Here you see the precursor, dihydrofolic acid. 

Figure 1.10 The transamination of alanine to glutamic acid. In the transamination of alanine, the amino group is transferred to a-ketoglutarate, producing a new amino acid, glutamic acid. The corresponding a-keto acid (of alanine) is also formed (pyruvic acid).

It has been established in experiments investigating this phenomenon that phenylmercury compounds are degraded after their absorption and that the protective effect is actually indirect. By the action of these compounds, the quantity of amino acids (glutamic acid, alanine, etc.) decreases in the sap of the rice leaves, which increases the resistance of rice against rice blast. 

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