Why is nucleic acid called an acid?
1 Answer
Nov 20, 2016
Richard Altmann in 1989 discovered that the contents of the nucleus of a cell, which he then called 'nuclein', had acidic properties, which caused his to change its name, 'nuclein', to 'nucleic acid'.
Explanation:
More specifically, this acidity comes from the phosphate groups used in forming DNA and RNA molecules. These phosphate groups are quite similar to phosphoric acid. The only difference there is the replacement of two of the protons from the phosphoric acid with protons from the sugar molecules of the nucleotide. This leaves only one remaining proton, which is very acidic. That easily-lost proton is what causes nucleic acids to be so acidic.
