A nonessential amino acid, C4H7NO4, found especially in young sugar cane and sugar-beet molasses.
[From ASPARAGUS (from its being obtained from an amino acid found in asparagus).]
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A nonessential amino acid, C4H7NO4, found especially in young sugar cane and sugar-beet molasses.
[From ASPARAGUS (from its being obtained from an amino acid found in asparagus).]
For more information on aspartic acid, visit Britannica.com.
A nonessential dicarboxylic amino acid, widely distributed in proteins.
Chemical structure of L-aspartic acid |
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Aspartic acid |
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| Systematic (IUPAC) name | |
| (2S)-2-aminobutanedioic acid | |
| Identifiers | |
| CAS number | 56-84-8 |
| PubChem | 5960 |
| Chemical data | |
| Formula | C4H7NO4 |
| Molar mass | 133.10 g/mol |
| SMILES | N[C@@H](CC(O)=O)C(O)=O |
| Complete data | |
Aspartic acid or aspartate (abbreviated as Asp or D; Asx or B represent either aspartic acid or asparagine)[1] is an α-amino acid with the chemical formula HO2CCH(NH2)CH2CO2H. The L-isomer is a protonated varient of one of the 20 proteinogenic amino acids, i.e. the building blocks of proteins. Its codons are GAU and GAC. It is classified as an acidic amino acid, together with glutamic acid. Aspartic acid is pervasive in biosynthesis.
Aspartic acid is non-essential in mammals, being produced from oxaloacetate by transamination. In plants and microorganisms, aspartic acid is the precursor to several amino acids, including four that are essential: methionine, threonine, isoleucine, and lysine. The conversion of aspartic acid to these other amino acids begins with reduction of aspartic acid to its "semialdehyde," HO2CCH(NH2)CH2CHO.[2] Asparagine is derived from aspartic acid via transamidation:
(where GC(O)NH2 and GC(O)OH are glutamine and glutamic acid, respectively)
Aspartic acid is also a metabolite in the urea cycle and participates in gluconeogenesis. It carries reducing equivalents in the malate-aspartate shuttle, which utilizes the ready interconversion of aspartate and oxaloacetate, which is the oxidized (dehydrogenated) derivative of malic acid. Aspartic acid donates one nitrogen atom in the biosynthesis of inositol, the precursor to the purine bases.
Aspartate (the conjugate base of aspartic acid) stimulates NMDA receptors, though not as strongly as the amino acid neurotransmitter glutamate does.[3] It serves as an excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain and is an excitotoxin.
As a neurotransmitter, aspartic acid may provide resistance to fatigue and thus lead to endurance, although the evidence to support this idea is not strong.
Racemic aspartic acid can be synthesized from diethyl sodium phthalimidomalonate, (C6H4(CO)2NC(CO2Et)2).[4]
| Major families of biochemicals | ||
| Peptides | Amino
acids | Nucleic acids | Carbohydrates |
Lipids | Terpenes | |
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| Analogues of nucleic acids: | The 20 Common Amino Acids | Analogues of nucleic acids: |
| Alanine (dp) | Arginine (dp) | Asparagine (dp) | Aspartic acid (dp) | Cysteine (dp) | Glutamic acid (dp) | Glutamine (dp) | Glycine (dp) | Histidine (dp) | Isoleucine (dp) | Leucine (dp) | Lysine (dp) | Methionine (dp) | Phenylalanine (dp) | Proline (dp) | Serine (dp) | Threonine (dp) | Tryptophan (dp) | Tyrosine (dp) | Valine (dp) | ||
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