What is the structure of N-serine in a neutral solution?

Answer 1

Serine is found in several configurations: L-serine, beta-Hydroxyalanine, (S)-Serine, 56-45-1, L-ser, (S)-2-Amino-3-hydroxypropanoic acid and D-ser.

It is a non-essential amino acid occurring in natural form as the L-isomer. It is synthesized from GLYCINE or THREONINE.

HO2CCH(NH2)CH2OH.

(2S)-2-amino-3-hydroxypropanoic acid

D-Serine, synthesized in the brain by serine racemase from L-serine (its enantiomer), serves as a neuromodulator by coactivating NMDA receptors, making them able to open if they then also bind glutamate. D-serine is a potent agonist at the glycine site of the NMDA-type glutamate receptor.

D-serine was only thought to exist in bacteria until relatively recently; it was the second D amino acid discovered to naturally exist in humans, present as a signaling molecule in the brain, soon after the discovery of D-aspartate.

D-Serine is being studied in rodents as a potential treatment for schizophrenia and L-serine is in FDA-approved human clinical trials as a possible treatment for ALS