Читать книгу Biochemistry For Dummies - John Moore T., Richard Langley H., John T. Moore - Страница 46

Amines and amides are two important functional groups containing nitrogen. Amines are present in amino acids and alkaloids. Amides are present in proteins, in which they’re known as peptide bonds.

The difference between amines and amides is that amides have a carbonyl group adjacent to the nitrogen atom. Amines are derivatives of ammonia (NH₃) where one or more organic groups replace hydrogen atoms. In a primary amine, an organic group replaces one hydrogen atom. In secondary and tertiary amines, two or three organic groups, respectively, replace two or three hydrogen atoms. Figure 3-4 shows these compounds, as well as aniline and ammonia.

FIGURE 3-4: Some nitrogen-containing functional groups.

Alkaloids are basic compounds produced by plants. Examples include nicotine, caffeine, and morphine.