Buy article online - an online subscription or single-article purchase is required to access this article.
organic compounds
In the structure of DL-glutamine (3,5-diamino-5-oxopentanoic acid, C5H10N2O3), the molecules aggregate into double layers involving head-to-tail sequences stabilized by hydrogen bonds between main-chain atoms. The double layers are stacked along a with the help of hydrogen bonds between side-chain atoms. This pattern is fundamentally different from that in the structure of L-glutamine, but is very similar to those in the structures of DL-methionine and hydrated L-arginine D-glutamate. The essential features of different possible aggregation patterns of amino acids appear to be determined by interactions involving main-chain atoms.