Denaturation of Hemoglobins by Alkali 103 bond formation between the oxygen and the nitrogen atoms in the peptide chain. There are two such bonds per residue and Pauling and Corey estimate their energy of formation to be about 8 kcal. per bond. Hydrogen bonds also arise from the polar R-groups. In hair there are about 0.4 such hydrogen bonds per residue.4 There is also van der Waals interaction leading to close packing of the R-groups. The energy contributed by the van der Waals interaction can be estimated to be about 2 kcal. per residue.5 It therefore appears that the stabilizing energy arising from the hydrogen bond formation on the oxygen and nitrogen atoms in the peptide chain is by far the more important of the stabilizing factors. We have seen, however, that agents capable of denaturing globular proteins by hydrogen bond rupture have no pronounced influence on the work of extending a hair (4) . B.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.