What is the structural flat representation of an amino acid molecule?
An amino acid has a central carbon to which a carboxyl group binds on a side and to which a –R (variable radical) binds on the opposite side. In the perpendicular direction of those ligands an amine group binds the central carbon on one side and a hydrogen binds on the opposite side. The bind of the carboxyl group to a carbon where a hydrogen is laterally attached is responsible for the name “acid” in amino acids. The bound of an amine group in the central carbon provides the name “amino”.
