2-aminoisobutyric acid 2-aminoisobutyric acid 2-aminoisobutyric acid (also known as α-aminoisobutyric acid, aib, α-methylalanine, or 2-methylalanine) is the non-proteinogenic amino acid with the structural formula h2n-c(ch3)2-cooh. it is rare in nature, having been only found in meteorites, and some antibiotics of fungal origin, such as alamethicin and some lantibiotics. 2-aminoisobutyric acid names preferred iupac name 2-amino-2-methylpropanoic acid other names α-aminoisobutyric acid2-methylalanine identifiers cas number 62-57-7 y 3d model (jsmol) interactive image chebi chebi:27971 y chemspider 5891 y drugbank db02952 y echa infocard 100.000.495 ec number 200-544-0 kegg c03665 y pubchem cid 6119 unii 1e7zw41iqu y comptox dashboard (epa) dtxsid0058772 inchi inchi=1s/c4h9no2/c1-4(2,5)3(6)7/h5h2,1-2h3,(h,6,7) ykey: fuoolupwfvmbkg-uhfffaoysa-n yinchi=1/c4h9no2/c1-4(2,5)3(6)7/h5h2,1-2h3,(h,6,7)key: fuoolupwfvmbkg-uhfffaoyad smiles o=c(o)c(n)(c)c properties chemical formula c4h9no2 molar mass 103.12 g/mol appearance white crystalline powder density 1.09 g/ml boiling point 204.4 °c (399.9 °f; 477.5 k) solubility in water soluble acidity (pka) 2.36 (carboxyl; h2o)10.21 (amino; h2o) except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °c , 100 kpa). y verify (what is yn ?) infobox references synthesis in the laboratory, 2-aminoisobutyric acid may be prepared from acetone cyanohydrin, by reaction with ammonia followed by hydrolysis. industrial scale synthesis can be achieved by the selective hydroamination of methacrylic acid. biological activity 2-aminoisobutyric acid is not one of the proteinogenic amino acids and is rather rare in nature (cf. non-proteinogenic amino acids). it is a strong helix inducer in peptides due to thorpe–ingold effect of its gem-dimethyl group. oligomers of aib form 310 helices. ribosomal incorporation into peptides 2-aminoisobutyric acid is compatible with ribosomal elongation of peptide synthesis. katoh et al. used flexizymes and an engineered a trna body to enhance the affinity of aminoacylated aib-trna species to elongation factor p. the result was an increased incorporation of aib into peptides in a cell free translation system. iqbal et al.. used an alternative approach of creating an editing deficient valine—trna ligase to synthesize aminoacylated aib-trnaval. the aminoacylated trna was subsequently used in a cell-free translation system to yield aib-containing peptides.