Adenine

Summary

Adenine, abbreviated as the single letter A, is a nitrogenous base that serves as a building block for nucleotides found in both DNA and RNA. Adenine’s chemical structure contains two fused rings, meaning that it belongs to the purine family of double-ringed, nitrogen-containing molecules. Adenine’s molecular structure is composed of one five-membered and one six-membered nitrogenous ring that have been fused together. Branching out from the six-membered ring is an amino group, located at the sixth position.

Key Points

• Adenine (A)
  • Characteristics
    • Nitrogenous Base
      • Organic molecules made up of nitrogen-containing ring structures
      • Each base has a unique structure, with its own set of functional groups attached to the ring structure 
    • Building block of Nucleosides and Nucleotides
      • Adenosine is a nucleoside with adenine as its base
      • Adenosine monophosphate (AMP), adenosine diphosphate (ADP), and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) are all nucleotides with adenine as their base
    • Component of DNA and RNA
      • Including poly-A tails (a chain of adenine nucleotides) of the 3’ end of mRNA
  • Structure
    • Chemical Formula = C5H5N5
    • 
    • Purine
      • Contains 2 fused rings
      • Six-membered ring fused to a five-membered ring
    • Functional Group
      • Amino (–NH2)
        • Located at 6th position