Introduction
Proteins are polypeptides, which are made up of many amino acids linked together as a linear chain. The structure of an amino acid contains a amino group, a carboxyl group, and a R group which is usually carbon based and gives the amino acid it's specific properties. (3) These properties determine the interactions between atoms and molecules, which are: van der Waals force between temporary dipoles, ionic interactions between charged groups, and attractions between polar groups. (1)Figure 1. A basic amino acid (1) |
Figure 2. Structures of Proteins (1)