Aminoacid 1 - Alanine

Alanine is an α-amino acid with the chemical formula CH₃CH(NH₂)COOH. Alpha α-carbon refers to the carbon directly bonded to the functional group.Here the carbon attached to the -COOH carboxylic group is called as Alpha carbon and hence it is named as alpha amino acid. It is classified as a nonpolar amino acid. D-Alanine occurs in bacterial cell walls and in some peptide antibiotics.
Properties:
Molecular Formula :- C₃H₇NO₂ 
Molar mass :- 89.09 g mol⁻¹
Appearance :- White powder
Solubility :- Soluble in water
Melting point :- 258 ºC
Structure:

The α-carbon atom of alanine is bound with a methyl group (-CH₃), making it one of the simplest α-amino acids with respect to molecular structure and also resulting in alanine's being classified as an aliphatic amino acid. The methyl group of alanine is non-reactive and is thus almost never directly involved in protein function.







3D structures of alanine: