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Is alanine a zwitterion?
Posted June 10, 2021

Answer

Alanine (C3H7NO2) exists as a zwitterion at physiological pH 7.3.

At this pH two things happen simultaneously. The α-amino group gets protonated to yield a positively charged ammonium group while the α-carboxyl group is separated to yield a negatively charged carboxylate ion. These two charges balance out, so the net charge on alanine is zero.