Nucleic acid sequence Nucleic acid sequence A nucleic acid sequence is a succession of letters that indicate the order of nucleotides forming alleles within a DNA (using GACT) or RNA (GACU) molecule. By convention, sequences are usually presented from the 5' end to the 3' end. For DNA, the sense strand is used. Because nucleic acids are normally linear (unbranched) polymers, specifying the sequence is equivalent to defining the covalent structure of the entire molecule. For this reason, the nucleic acid sequence is also termed the primary structure. The sequence has capacity to represent information. Biological deoxyribonucleic acid represents the information which directs
Carboxylic acid the electron-withdrawing effect of the carbonyl bond, which makes the terminal oxygen-hydrogen bond weaker and thus makes acid dissociation more favorable (lowers pKa). Carboxylic acids can be seen as reduced or alkylated forms of the Lewis acid carbon dioxide; under some circumstances they can be decarboxylated to yield carbon dioxide. Carboxylic acids are commonly identified using their trivial names, and usually have the suffix "-ic acid". IUPAC-recommended names also exist; in this system, carboxylic acids have an "-oic acid" suffix. For example, butyric acid (CHCOH) is butanoic acid by IUPAC guidelines. The "-oic acid" nomenclature detail is based on the