Tyrosine: The amino acid vital for Cognition
Tyrosine belongs to the 20 standard amino acids which are needed by the body for synthesizing proteins. Moreover, Tyrosine also plays an important role in the biosynthesis of your catecholamines: Dopamine, Noradrenaline and Adrenaline. These molecules function as mood stabilizers, chemical messengers and are also involved in our fight, fright and flight responses. They serve to regulate our autonomic nervous system in response to stressful events. Without Tyrosine, our body cannot produce enough of these molecules, hence, our body’s response to different stimuli would be unregulated.
How does Tyrosine look like in Chemistry?
Let’s Get Building!
Using your Student Molecular Set from Duluth Labs let’s create Tyrosine! You’ll need:
- 9 Carbon Atoms
- 3 Oxygen Atoms
- 11 Hydrogen Atoms
- 1 Nitrogen Atoms
- 11 Small connectors (compact small bonds for hydrogen)
- 9 Medium Connectors
- 8 Long connectors
- Molecular Tool (for Disassembly)
Put aside all the atoms and connectors needed.
Let’s Start Building Tyrosine starting with the alpha carbon!
Note: We will build the skeleton portion of our amino acid starting with our chiral carbon (α Carbon).
Steps:
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1
1. Get one carbon atom (α Carbon)then, place one hydrogen atom at the back side using one small connector.
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2
2. Then, get another carbon atom (β Carbon)then place this in front of α Carbon using 1medium connector. Add 2 hydrogen atoms onβ Carbon using 2 small connectors.
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3
3. Attach another carbon (Carbonyl Carbon)on α Carbon using 1 medium connector.
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4
4. Get an Oxygen atom and attach this to the Carbonyl Carbon using 2long connectors.
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5
5. Get another Oxygen atom then attach this to the Carbonyl Carbon using a medium connector. Place a hydrogen atom on this oxygen using one small connector.
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6
6. Then, get your Nitrogen atom and attach this to the α Carbon using one medium connector. Place 2 hydrogen atoms on this Nitrogen using 2 small connectors.
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Yay! We've just built our amino acid skeleton!
Note: Let’s now continue building Tyrosine, by adding its Phenol side chain. We will start with Carbon 1 of our Phenol ring. We will build this portion in a counterclockwise direction.
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1
1. Get one carbon atom (Carbon 1)then attach this to the β Carbon using a medium connector.
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2
2. Then, get another carbon (Carbon 2)then attach this to Carbon 1 using 2 long connectors.Place a hydrogen atom on Carbon 2 using 1 small connector.
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3
3. Attach another carbon atom (Carbon 3) to Carbon 2 using 1 medium connector.Then place a hydrogen atom on Carbon 3 using 1 small connector.
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4
4. Get another carbon atom (Carbon 4)then attach this to Carbon 3 using 2 long connectors.
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5
5. Attach one Oxygen atom to carbon 4 using 1 medium connector. Then, add one hydrogen atom to this oxygen using a small connector.
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6
6. Get one carbon atom (Carbon 5) and attach this to Carbon 4 using 1 medium connector. Likewise, place a hydrogen atom on Carbon 5 using 1 small connector.
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7
7. Attach one carbon atom (Carbon 6) to Carbon 5 with your 2 long connectors. Then, add a hydrogen atom to Carbon 6 using a small connector.
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8
8. Join Carbon 1 and Carbon 6 together using a 1 medium connector.
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Yay! We've just built our Phenol side chain portion!
Now, try this! Let’s build another Tyrosine molecule by following the steps outlined above. Then let’s try to interchange the Hydrogen attached to the alpha (α) carbon and the beta (β) Carbon containing the phenol functional group.
Steps:
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1
1. Build another tyrosine molecule following the steps outlined above.
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2
2. Detach the hydrogen atom and the beta (β) carbon containing the phenol side chain.
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3
3. Place the hydrogen atom in front of the alpha (α) carbon.
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4
4. Then, attach the beta (β) carbon with the phenol functional group at the back side of alpha (α) carbon.
There we go! We now have 2 molecules of Tyrosine! See how these molecules seem to mirror each other!
L – Tyrosine
D – Tyrosine
