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In chemistry, an imino acid is any molecule that contains both imino (>C=NH) and carboxyl (-C(=O)-OH) functional groups.
Imino acids are related to amino acids, which contain both amino (-NH2) and carboxyl (-COOH) functional groups. Amino acids containing secondary amine group (the only natural compound of this type is proline) are sometimes incorrectly named imino acids.
The term imino acid is also the obsolete term for imido acids, containing the -C(=NH)-OH group, and should not be used for them.
The amino acid oxidase enzymes are able to convert amino acids into imino acids. Also the direct biosynthetical precursor to the amino acid proline is the imino acid (S)-Δ1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate (P5C).
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