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Amino acids consist of carboxylic acids acidic and amines basic Acids are protons donors because a hydrogen atom is a proton with one electron technically an H ion is just a proton So an acid is just a proton donor Also bases are proton acceptors Amines have two options they can either be neutral NH2 or gain a proton NH3 Carboxylic acids can either be neutral COOH or lose a proton COO The proton count on each will be determined by the acidity of the solution and that amino acids can only be neutral or zwitterion overall neutral but have formal charges across the molecule http study com academy lesson zwitterion structure function html A zwitterion is sometimes called dipolar ions This is due to having a negative end anion and a positive end cation At a neutral PH amino acids exist in their zwitterion form dipolar form This means that the amino acids contain a positive charge and a negative charge a At the low PH of 0 1 the carboxylic group is protonated At this acidic PH amino acids are positively charged species b As the PH increased the carboxylic acid group loses its hydrogen to form a zwitterion c The zwitterion form usually persists until around a PH of 9 At this basic PH the low H causes the amino acids to lose its hydrogen therefore forming a negatively charged species Ion exchange chromatography Ion exchange chromatography is a separation technique based on the electrostatic interaction of charged surfaces based on what PH they are
