Blatant Biology

acid-base theory stating that, on an acid and base reacting together, the conjugate acid and conjugate base are formed by exchange of a proton

a compound formed when an acid donates a proton to a base: a base with a proton added

the compound left after the acid has donated its proton

acid-base theory stating that an acid and base will form a coordinate covalent bond on reaction, through the donation of an electron pair

a species donating an electron pair (a nucleophile)

a species accepting an electron pair (an electrophile)

a quantitative measure of an acid's strength in solution

log scale specifying the acidity or basicity of solutions, inversely indicating the activity of protons

negative log of K_a, giving a more convenient measure of acidity

the tendency of an atom of a given element to attract shared electrons when forming a covalent bond

the separation of electric charge within a molecule, forming dipoles

amino acid with lysyl ((CH2)4NH2) side chain; basic, charged (at physiological pH), aliphatic

amino acid with a guanidino side chain; carboxylic acid is deprotonated (at physiological pH), but amino and guanidino groups are protonated (forming a cation)

amino acid with an imidazole side chain (protonated under physiological pH), and a deprotonated carboxylic acid group

structural isomers of chemical compounds that rapidly interconvert, typically through the relocation of protons

the removal of a proton from a Brønsted–Lowry acid to form the conjugate base

the addition of a proton to form a conjugate acid from a Brønsted–Lowry base

a chemical species donating an electron pair, with a free electron; always Lewis bases

pancreatic ribonuclease, typically used in research due to its high natural presence in tissue samples

method to study intermediate compounds formed by an enzyme, allowing rate of reaction to be understood

method of identifying intermediate compounds formed by slower enzymes, isolating the intermediates for study

chemical that binds to histidine residues, allowing the study of important catalytic residues in RNAse A

a method of applying chemicals to bind to known groups in proteins, allowing changes in protein function to be identified

part of the active site conveying the enzyme's selectivity to a certain substrate; multiple can be combined to increase the number of structures identified and thus convery greater selectivity