BRAINCAKEHydrolysis of Peptides
The peptide bonds in dipeptides, polypeptides and proteins can be broken by hydrolysis. A water molecule is added across each peptide bond: the -OH joins the carbon to reform a carboxyl group and the -H joins the nitrogen to reform an amine group.
Complete hydrolysis of a polypeptide gives its individual amino acids. Hydrolysis is the reverse of the condensation reaction that formed the peptide bonds.
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Key terms in this lesson
- condensation reaction
- A reaction that joins two molecules together with a covalent bond, releasing a water molecule.
- hydrolysis
- A reaction that breaks a covalent bond between two molecules by adding a water molecule.
More in Biological Molecules
- Amino-acids
- Thin Layer Chromatography
- Polypeptides
- Protein Structure
- Globular Proteins
- Insulin
- Conjugated Proteins
- Haemoglobin
All 63 lessons in Biological Molecules · All OCR AS-level Biology topics