Question

The compound shown here is used to treat trypanosome infection.

What amino acid does the compound resemble?

Short answer

The compound that resembles an amino acid is called ornithine

Step-by-step solution

Step 1: Structure of given compound:

Five carbon atoms, two amino groups, a carboxylate group, and a difluoromethyl group on the second carbon atom make up the compound depicted below.

This compound is used to treat infections caused by trypanosomes.

Resemblance of a given compound and its reason:

The given compound has a similar structure to ornithine amino acid, except there is no difluoromethyl group in the amino acid. It is, therefore, a post-translational change.The structure of ornithine is given below.

In the absence of the difluoromethyl group, the molecule is actually ornithine.

Therefore, the given compound resembles ornithine.