Aspartic Acid - Forms and Nomenclature

Forms and Nomenclature

The term "aspartic acid" refers to either of two forms or a mixture of two. Of these two forms, only one, "-aspartic acid", is directly incorporated into proteins. The biological roles of its counterpart, "-aspartic acid" are more limited. Where enzymatic synthesis will produce one or the other, most chemical syntheses will produce both forms, "-aspartic acid," known as a racemic mixture.