The amino acid that gives a red-blood colour on treating its sodium fusion extract with sodium nitroprusside is
- A.
serine
- B.
leucine
- C.
threonine
- D.
methionine
- Recall the purpose of sodium fusion extract.
Sodium fusion converts the nitrogen, sulphur and halogens present in an organic compound into simple, detectable ionic forms such as , and sodium halides.
- Recall what sodium nitroprusside detects.
Sodium nitroprusside test specifically detects the presence of sulphur in the compound, normally giving a violet colour when sulphide () alone is present.
- Recall the special case when both nitrogen and sulphur are present together.
Given that the molecule contains both N and S, they can combine during fusion, therefore the test instead gives a characteristic blood-red colour rather than the usual violet.
- Match this behaviour to the given amino acids.
Among serine, leucine, threonine and methionine, only methionine contains a sulphur atom (in its side chain) along with the nitrogen already present in every amino acid.
Hence, the answer is D. methionine.