iso prefix

[yui_96]

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So if you call something "iso", it indicates that there's an isopropyl group at the end of a continuous carbon chain. Then I feel in that case, leucine should be named "isoleucine" because it has an isopropyl group in the structure. Can someone explain for my curious mind?

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

Biochemistry does not necessarily follow the nomenclature rules associated with organic chemistry. Maybe the person naming it originally used a perspective that the main carbon of the amino acid was attached to one of the terminal carbons of an isobutyl group. But no what their original reasoning may be, the amino acids are named the way they're named, and you shouldn't worry as much about the rationale behind their name as much as their structure and function in proteins.