Tryptophan

Recently, we have been discussing organic molecules, and each student in the class chose an organic molecule to research. I chose tryptophan.
Many of you may know tryptophan as "the thing that makes you sleepy when you eat turkey."
However, tryptophan looks more like this,

Than this:

In fact, the correct (IUPAC) name for tryptophan is (2S)-2-amino-3-(1H-indol-3-yl)propanoic acid. (And I thought tryptophan was a mouth-full!) Tryptophan is one of the 20 different kinds of amino acids (monomers that combine to form proteins). It is also an essential amino acid, which means it can't be synthesized in the body and must be consumed (in forms like turkey).

Good news for this guy, huh? 

The chemical formula: C11H12N2O2 gives tryptophan a molecular weight of a whopping 204.225 grams per mole! Tryptophan is soluble in water, boils at a temperature of 447.908 °C, and melts at 280-285 °C. Tryptophan also contains hydrogen bonds, which means that there are also dispersion and dipole-dipole intermolecular forces.

So maybe, the next time you eat a bite of this:

You'll think more about our friend, tryptophan, than "just the stuff that makes you sleepy." 

If you want to learn more about tryptophan, this was the source I used. The same website has a link to a 3D molecular structure!