Alanine facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Alanine
IUPAC name	Alanine
Other names	2-Aminopropanoic acid
Identifiers
CAS number	338-69-2
PubChem	5950
KEGG	C01401
ChEBI	CHEBI:16977
SMILES	O=C(O)C(N)C
InChI InChI=1/C3H7NO2/c1-2(4)3(5)6/h2H,4H2,1H3,(H,5,6)
Properties
Molecular formula	C3H7NO2
Molar mass	89.08 g mol-1
Appearance	white powder
Density	1.424 g/cm3
Melting point	258 °C, 531 K, 496 °F
Solubility in water	167.2 g/L (25 °C)
log P	-0.68
Acidity (pKa)	2.34 (carboxyl; H2O) 9.87 (amino; H2O)
Magnetic susceptibility (χ)	-50.5·10−6 cm3/mol
Except where noted otherwise, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C, 100 kPa)

Alanine (abbreviated as Ala or A) is an α-amino acid. It has the chemical formula CH₃CH(NH₂)COOH.

The L-isomer is one of the 20 amino acids encoded by the genetic code. Its codons are GCU, GCC, GCA, and GCG. It is classified as a non-polar amino acid.

L-Alanine accounts for 7.8% of the primary structure in a sample of 1,150 proteins. Leucine is the only amino acid which is more common.

D-Alanine occurs in bacterial cell walls and in some peptide antibiotics.

Images for kids

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  (S)-Alanine (left) and (R)-alanine (right) in zwitterionic form at neutral pH