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| A peptide bond is a chemical bond formed between two molecules
when the carboxyl group of one molecule reacts with the amino
group of the other molecule, releasing a molecule of water
(H2O). This is a dehydration synthesis reaction (also known as a
condensation reaction), and usually occurs between amino acids.
The resulting CO-NH bond is called a peptide bond, and the
resulting molecule is an amide. The four-atom functional group
-C(=O)NH- is called an amide group or (in the context of
proteins) a peptide group. Polypeptides and proteins are chains
of amino acids held together by peptide bonds, as is the
backbone of PNA. A peptide bond can be broken by amide
hydrolysis (the adding of water). The peptide bonds in proteins
are metastable, meaning that in the presence of water they will
break spontaneously, releasing about 10 kJ/mol of free energy,
but this process is extremely slow. In