Here are the essential concepts you must grasp in order to answer the question correctly.
Amino Acid Structure
Amino acids are organic compounds that serve as the building blocks of proteins. Each amino acid has a central carbon atom bonded to an amino group (-NH2), a carboxyl group (-COOH), a hydrogen atom, and a variable side chain (R group). The structure of isoleucine, an essential amino acid, includes a branched-chain aliphatic side group, which influences its properties and behavior in biological systems.
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pH and Ionization
pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of a solution, affecting the ionization state of functional groups in molecules. At higher pH levels, such as pH 11, amino acids tend to lose protons from their carboxyl groups and may also affect the amino group. Understanding how pH influences the ionization of amino acids is crucial for predicting their predominant forms in different environments.
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Zwitterion Formation
A zwitterion is a molecule that has both positive and negative charges but is overall neutral. In the case of amino acids, at physiological pH, they often exist as zwitterions, where the amino group is protonated (-NH3+) and the carboxyl group is deprotonated (-COO-). At pH 11, isoleucine will predominantly exist in a deprotonated form, affecting its solubility and reactivity in biological systems.
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Why Amino Acids Exist as Zwitterions