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Updated: Jun 28, 2026

Chemical Modification of the Tryptophan Residue in a Recombinant Ca2+-ATPase N-domain for Studying Tryptophan-ANS FRET
Published on: October 9, 2021
Spectrophotometric determination of tryptophan by reaction with nitrous acid
K K Verma1, A Jain, J Gasparic
1Department of Chemistry, Rani Durgavati University, Jabalpur 482001, India.
Abstract:
The heterocyclic nucleus in tryptophan is oxidised by nitrous acid at elevated temperature to produce a phenolic intermediate which further reacts with nitrous acid to form a nitro compound that has a golden yellow colour in alkaline medium. The maximum absorbance is obtained at 400 nm with maximum molar absorptivity of 9.44 x 10(3) l.mole(-1). cm(-1). Derivatives of tryptophan such as indole-3-acetic acid, tryptamine and tryptophanamide, as well as indole, produce the same colour, but some others, e.g., 5-hydroxytryptamine and 5-hydroxyindole-3-acetic acid do not give the colour reaction. A plausible mechanism is proposed to explain this behaviour.
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