A Microsoft Excel workbook has been
developed to simplify the quantitative
analysis of experimentally measured titration curves for diprotic
and triprotic amino acids such as glycine, arginine, histidine, and
glutamate. Students perform the titration, enter the data into the
worksheet, and manually adjust the resulting pK
a values to achieve the closest agreement between the experimental
and calculated titration curves. At the same time, the students can
observe changes in the speciation diagram that illustrates the transitions
of differently protonated molecular species during the titration.
Through a combination of graphical visualization and analysis, supported
by computer software, students learn the most important aspects of
the protonation equilibria of amino acid solutions. The knowledge
gained can serve as the basis for understanding the behavior of more
complex polyprotic acids in aqueous solution and the pK
a values of amino acid residues in proteins.