Is tryptophan hydrophobic or hydrophilic?
Understand the Problem
The question is asking whether tryptophan, an amino acid, is hydrophobic (water-repelling) or hydrophilic (water-attracting). Understanding its properties is important in biochemistry and protein structure.
Answer
Hydrophobic
The final answer is hydrophobic.
Answer for screen readers
The final answer is hydrophobic.
More Information
Tryptophan is considered hydrophobic because it has a large, aromatic side chain that does not interact favorably with water.
Tips
A common mistake is to assume that all amino acids with nitrogen in their side chains are hydrophilic. Tryptophan's aromatic structure makes it hydrophobic despite this.
Sources
- Why are Tyrosine and Tryptophan considered hydrophobic? - chemistry.stackexchange.com
- Amino Acids - Biology LibreTexts - bio.libretexts.org
- The web page with info on - Example Source - ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
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