Phenylalanine biochemical structure

SprinzI M, Kramer E, Stehlik D (1974) Structure of phenylalanine transfer-RNA from yeast -spin-label studies. Eur J Biochem 49(3) 595-605... 

Acetanilide, which has pain-relieving properties, undergoes a biochemical oxidation similar to that of the NIH shift that occurs with phenylalanine. The product formed from acetanilide is itself a pain-reliever. What is the structure of this substance (better known as Tylenol) ... 

Nevertheless, current knowledge of biochemical systems and synthetic techniques may allow us to explore them from a slightly different perspective. Namely, what would life look like with an expanded genetic code—that is, with additional amino acids added into the proteins of life. Indeed, over the past few years chemists have been able to utilize native biochemical systems as well as evolved tRNA molecules (which we will discuss in Chapter 25) to load many unique amino acids into proteins of interest at any specific point desired in a number of different cells, including those of yeast, some mammals, and bacteria like E. coli. Some of the unnatural amino acids are shown below. They include ones with unique metals (like selenium), reactive functional groups (such as a ketone and an azide) that can be used for additional chemistry, and a boronic acid that can be used to bind certain sugars covalently. These synthetic amino acids are all derivatives of phenylalanine, but many other amino acid parent structures can be used as well. 

Many of these aromatic compounds are phenylpropanoids, compounds based on a phenylpropane skeleton. Phenylpropanoids are related in structure to the common amino acids phenylalanine and tyrosine, and many are derived from a biochemical pathway called the shikimic acid pathway. 

The precursors of flavonoid biosynthesis include shikimic acid, phenylalanine, cinnamic acid, and p-coumaric acid. Shikimic acid acts as an intermediate in the biosynthesis of aromatic acid. The basic pathways to the core isoflavonoid skeletons have been established both enzymatically and genetically [16]. The synthesis of isoflavones can be broadly divided into three main synthetic pathways the formylation of deoxybenzoins, the oxidative rearrangement of chalcones and flavanones, and the arylation of a preformed chromanone ring. In leguminous plants, the major isoflavonoids are produced via two branches of the isoflavonoid biosynthetic pathway, and the different branches share a majority of common reactions [1]. Unlike the common flavonoid compotmds, which have a 2-phenyl-benzopyrone core structure, isoflavones, such as daidzein and genistein, are 3-phenyl-benzopyrone compounds. Biochemically, the synthesis of isoflavones is an offshoot of the flavonoids biosynthesis pathway. Several attempts have aimed to increase... 

Amino acids are the structural units of protein, and some of them have been used as drugs or food additives, so the determination of amino acids is useful for biochemical research and for commercial product analysis. Among essential amino acids, there are three aromatic amino acids, phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan, which exhibit fluorescence when they are excited by ultraviolet rays. So it is possible to determine them by the fluorescence spectroscopic method. The A ax of phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan are 282 nm, 303 nm and 348 nm respectively, but their fluorescence spectra are partially overlapped. Since the separation operation of these three amino acids is tedious and... 

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