Pipecolic acid


Pipecolic acid is a small organic molecule which accumulates in pipecolic acidemia. It is a carboxylic acid of piperidine.

Biochemical effects

Pipecolic acid can be associated with some forms of epilepsy.
CRYM, a taxon-specific crystallin protein that also binds thyroid hormones, is involved in the pipecolic acid pathway.

Environmental abundance and relevance

Pipecolic acid was identified in the Murchison meteorite.
It also occurs in the leaves of the genus Myroxylon, a tree from South America.

Stereochemistry

Pipecolic acid, like many other α-amino acids, has a chiral stereocenter at the α carbon.