Identification of the Artificial Synthesis of Aromatic Amino Acid Tyrosine, Based on Pi-to-Pi* Absorbance Peaks

Overview

The aromatic amino acid Tyrosine was synthesized using three types of clays, water, heat, and a few common compounds. However, initial efforts to identify Tyrosine were stymied by the sole use of the Pearson Correlation Coefficient to statistically compare synthesized compounds with laboratory grade amino acids, without any understanding of the underlying chemistry. This synthesis was successfully revisited with the aid of quantitative chemistry, to understand the actual chemical bonding and thus the amino acid synthesized. The Beer-Lambert equation, Plank’s equation, and two dominant spectroscopic absorbance peaks at ?1(wavelength 1) = 287nm and ?2 (wavelength 2)= 294nm were critical to this study. The dominant spectroscopic peaks represented p-to-p* electron transitions, as these peaks were significantly higher than all other absorbance data in the absorbance versus wavelength graph. These two dominant peaks became an UV/Vis “signature” which lead to identifying the aromatic amino acid Tyrosine as having been created by all three types of clays. The Beer-Lambert equation was applied to show that Moroccan Clay produced a higher concentration of Tyrosine than Talc, and Talc produced a higher concentration than Sepiolite.

Competition history

• ISEF 2021 Biochemistry · Entry BCHM020

Resources

• ISEF abstract page ↗

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