Diagram: Ionizable amino acid side chains v1 11Apr2026

The pKa Values for Ionizable Groups in Amino Acids

Amino acidα-COOH to α-COOα-NH3+ to α-NH2RH to R or RH+ to R
Glycine (Gly, G)2.349.60NA
Alanine (Ala, A)2.349.69NA
Valine (Val, V)2.329.62NA
Leucine (Leu, L)2.369.60NA
Isoleucine (Ile, I)2.369.68NA
Methionine (Met, M)2.289.21NA
Proline (Pro, P)1.9910.96NA
Phenylalanine (Phe, F)1.839.13NA
Tryptophan (Trp, W)2.389.39NA
Serine (Ser, S)2.219.15NA
Threonine (Thr, T)2.119.62NA
Asparagine (Asn, N)2.028.80NA
Glutamine (Gln, Q)2.179.13NA
Aspartate (Asp, D)1.929.873.87
Glutamate (Glu, E)2.199.674.25
Histidine (His, H)1.829.176.00
Cysteine (Cys, C)1.9610.288.18
Tyrosine (Tyr, Y)2.209.1110.07
Lysine (Lys, K)2.188.9510.53
Arginine (Arg, R)2.179.0412.48
Average2.169.48NA
NA, not applicable