plumiAmides, amino acids and condensation polymers: Edexcel International A Level Chemistry questions
Every Edexcel International A Level Chemistry exam question on Amides, amino acids and condensation polymers (specification points 19.7–19.12), 2019–2025, with its mark scheme and examiner’s report.
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Calculations
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Q19(a)(i)
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Q16(a)
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Q8(b)
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Q10(a)
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All 58 questions on Amides, amino acids and condensation polymers, as a list
- June 2025, Unit 5, Q9 (1 mark): At what pH would the amino acid phenylalanine have the structure shown? O– O H N+ H H A pH 2 B pH 6 C pH 10 D pH 14
- June 2025, Unit 5, Q10 (1 mark): Which is the repeat unit of the polymer formed from the monomers shown? HO OH H2N NH2 O O O O O A N H n O O O B N N H H n O O C N N H H n O O D N N N H H H n
- June 2025 (A), Unit 5, Q12 (1 mark): The structure of caffeine, C8H10O2N4 , is shown. O N N N O N Which functional group is present? A aldehyde B amide C ketone D nitrile Use this space for any rou
- June 2025 (A), Unit 5, Q14 (1 mark): Poly(ethenol) is used to make hospital laundry bags for soiled or contaminated linen. This is because poly(ethenol) is A a bactericide B broken down by detergen
- June 2025 (A), Unit 5, Q19(a)(i) (1 mark): Give the IUPAC name for alanine. H2N OH O (1)
- June 2025 (A), Unit 5, Q19(a)(ii) (3 marks): Explain why alanine has a much higher melting temperature than butanoic acid, which has a similar relative molecular mass. Detailed descriptions of the bonding
- June 2025 (A), Unit 5, Q19(b)(i) (2 marks): Draw a possible structure of E. (2)
- June 2025 (A), Unit 5, Q19(c)(i) (1 mark): F is not optically active. Suggest a structure for F. (1)
- June 2025 (A), Unit 5, Q19(c)(ii) (2 marks): G has two chiral centres. Suggest a structure for G. (2)
- January 2025, Unit 5, Q14 (1 mark): What is the repeat unit of the water‑soluble polymer poly(ethenol)? ( OH H A C C H OH ( H H B C C H OH ( H OH C C C H OH ( OH OH D C C OH OH
- January 2025, Unit 5, Q15 (1 mark): A repeat unit for a polyamide is shown. H H N N (CH2)4 (CH2)6 C C O O Which pair of monomers makes this polymer? A H2N(CH2)6NH2 and HOOC(CH2)4COOH B NC(CH2)6CN
- January 2025, Unit 5, Q16(a) (1 mark): Which compound is an optically active amino acid? (1) A compound W B compound X C compound Y D compound Z
- January 2025, Unit 5, Q17(a) (1 mark): What will be the structure of asparagine in an aqueous solution at pH 2? (1) O NH2 C CH2 A H2N C COOH H O NH2 C CH2 B + COO– H3N C H H+ O NH2 C C CH2 + H3N C CO
- October 2024, Unit 4, Q15 (1 mark): Which monomer could form a condensation polymer without needing a second type of monomer? A HO(CH2)4OH B HO(CH2)4COCl C HO(CH2)4CH CH2 D HO(CH2)4CH2Cl
- October 2024, Unit 5, Q8(b) (1 mark): Which is the organic product of the reaction between serine and sodium hydroxide solution? (1) H H O N C C A H O–Na+ CH2 OH H H O N C C B O–Na+ H CH2 O–Na+ H H
- October 2024, Unit 5, Q11 (1 mark): The polymer, nylon 6-10, is made from a six-carbon diamine and a ten-carbon dicarboxylic acid. Which is the repeat unit of this nylon? O O A N (CH2)10 N C C (CH
- June 2024, Unit 5, Q10(a) (1 mark): Which form of aspartic acid is formed at pH 12? (1) NH+ 3 H O– O A C C C C OH O H H NH2 H HO O B C C C C O– O H H NH2 H O– O C C C C C O– O H H NH+ 3 H HO O D C
- June 2024, Unit 5, Q10(b)(i) (1 mark): Which is a correct structure when aspartic acid forms a dipeptide with glutamine? (1) H2N H O O H H H OH O C C C C C C C C C N O A OH H H H H H2N H HO O C H H N
- June 2024, Unit 5, Q19(b)(i) (2 marks): Draw the structure of poly(ethenol), showing three repeat units. (2)
- June 2024, Unit 5, Q19(b)(ii) (2 marks): Use your structure from 19(b)(i) to calculate the percentage of hydroxyl groups by mass in the polymer. (2)
- June 2024, Unit 5, Q19(b)(iii) (2 marks): Explain why poly(ethenol) is soluble in water using your answers from 19(b)(i) and (ii). (2)
- June 2024, Unit 5, Q19(c)(ii) (1 mark): Suggest one way that the properties of poly(ethenol) will be improved by the use of glycerol, apart from any effect on solubility. (1)
- June 2024, Unit 5, Q19(e) (2 marks): Some hospitals use poly(ethenol) laundry bags instead of reusable, washable polyester or nylon bags. State two advantages of using soluble poly(ethenol) laundry
- January 2024, Unit 5, Q7 (1 mark): Peptides are short chains of amino acids linked by peptide bonds. COOH NH COOH O O O O H H H N N N H2N N N N N COOH H H H H O O O COOH COOH COOH How many differ
- January 2024, Unit 5, Q8 (1 mark): Which shows the structure of the amino acid lysine as a solid, and in solution at high pH? Solid High pH solution O O H2N H2N O– OH A NH2 NH2 O O H3N+ H2N O– O–
- January 2024, Unit 5, Q9 (1 mark): A dipeptide has the molecular formula C7H12N2O3 . The dipeptide is hydrolysed to form two amino acids. One of the amino acids produced does not have a chiral ce
- January 2024, Unit 5, Q11 (1 mark): The formulae of three synthetic polymers, X, Y and Z, are shown. H N n n n Cl O O NH2 X Y Z Which are made by addition polymerisation reactions? A X, Y and Z B
- October 2023, Unit 5, Q13 (1 mark): The amino acid 2-aminopropanoic acid exists as a zwitterion at pH 6.0 What will be the structure of 2-aminopropanoic acid at pH 9.0? A H2NCH(CH3)COOH B H2NCH(CH
- October 2023, Unit 5, Q20(c)(i) (1 mark): Draw the repeat unit of the polyamide formed from the monomers shown. O O C C H2N(CH2 )6 NH2 and Cl Cl (1)
- October 2023, Unit 5, Q20(c)(ii) (2 marks): Explain why polyamides have higher melting temperatures than polyalkenes. (2)
- June 2023, Unit 5, Q19 (1 mark): Four amino acids are dissolved in deionised water to form separate 0.05 mol dm–3 solutions. Which amino acid will give the solution with the lowest pH? O A HO O
- June 2023, Unit 5, Q24(a)(i) (1 mark): PAM is made from the acrylamide monomer. O NH2 acrylamide Give the IUPAC name for acrylamide. (1)
- June 2023, Unit 5, Q24(c)(i) (2 marks): State what is meant by the term condensation polymer. (2)
- June 2023, Unit 5, Q24(c)(ii) (2 marks): The structure of nylon 6,6 is shown. H O N N n O H nylon 6,6 Nylon 6,6 is made from two monomers. Deduce the structural formulae of these two monomers. (2) stru
- June 2023, Unit 5, Q24(c)(iii) (2 marks): Caprolactam can be directly converted to give a different polymer, nylon 6, in a ring-opening polymerisation reaction. O NH caprolactam Draw two repeat units of
- June 2023, Unit 5, Q25(d)(iv) (1 mark): Deduce the skeletal formula of the reagent for Step 3. (1)
- January 2023, Unit 5, Q11(a) (1 mark): Which of these wavenumber ranges would you not expect to have an absorption in the infrared spectrum of valine? (1) A 3500 – 3300 cm–1 B 3095 – 3010 cm–1 C 2962
- January 2023, Unit 5, Q13 (1 mark): A student hydrolysed a section of a protein and then used thin-layer chromatography to analyse the amino acids produced. The chromatogram is shown. solvent fron
- January 2023, Unit 5, Q14 (1 mark): A polyamide has the repeat unit O O C C N N H H Which of these monomers can form this polyamide? O A H2N C only OH O O B H2N C C NH2 only O O C H2N C C NH2 and
- January 2023, Unit 5, Q19(c)(i) (1 mark): Complete the structure of the zwitterion of phenylalanine. (1)
- January 2023, Unit 5, Q19(c)(ii) (1 mark): Draw the structure of the dipeptide formed from phenylalanine. (1)
- January 2023, Unit 5, Q19(c)(iii) (1 mark): Give the molecular formula of aspartame. (1)
- January 2023, Unit 5, Q19(c)(iv) (1 mark): Circle the two chiral carbon atoms in aspartame on the structure shown. (1) NH2 O H N OH O O O
- January 2023, Unit 5, Q19(c)(v) (3 marks): Aspartame is hydrolysed by hydrochloric acid in the stomach. Draw the structures of the three organic products formed from the complete acid hydrolysis of aspar
- October 2022, Unit 5, Q12(b) (1 mark): What is the structure of isoleucine in a solution of pH = 2? (1) O O A O− B OH + NH2 NH3 O O C D OH2 + O− NH2 + NH3 Use this space for any rough working. Anythi
- October 2022, Unit 5, Q15 (1 mark): The structure of crotonamide is shown. O H C NH2 C C CH3 H What is the repeat unit of the polymer formed from crotonamide? NH2 H H H H C O C C C A B C C H H C O
- June 2022, Unit 5, Q10(a) (1 mark): Which ion is most likely to form if serine is dissolved in sodium carbonate solution? (1) O A HO OH +NH3 O B HO O− +NH3 O C −O O− NH2 O D HO O− NH2
- June 2022, Unit 5, Q10(b) (1 mark): Serine has a melting temperature in the region of 200–300 °C. This high melting temperature is mainly due to the formation of (1) A hydrogen bonds B ionic bonds
- January 2022, Unit 5, Q12(a) (2 marks): The diagram shows part of the structure of a polymer formed by a condensation reaction between two amino acids. H2N O H O N N H O S Predict the structures of th
- October 2021, Unit 5, Q15 (1 mark): How many different amino acids form the repeat unit of the polymer shown? O O O A 3 B 4 C 5 D 6
- June 2021, Unit 5, Q12 (1 mark): Which type of compound cannot be a monomer in the formation of polyamides? A amides B amino acids C diacyl chlorides D diamines
- June 2021, Unit 5, Q13(a) (1 mark): Which structure best represents alanine at high pH? (1) NH2 OH A H3C C C O H NH2 O– B H3C C C O H NH3 + OH C H3C C C O H NH3 + O– D H3C C C O H
- June 2021, Unit 5, Q13(b) (1 mark): Alanine is a crystalline solid at room temperature. What are the main forces broken when alanine melts? (1) A London forces B hydrogen bonds C covalent bonds D
- June 2021, Unit 5, Q19(b)(ii) (1 mark): Suggest the functional group present in Y. (1)
- January 2021, Unit 5, Q14 (1 mark): The repeat unit of a polymer is shown. n O NH2 What is the structure of the monomer? O A NH2 O B NH2 O C NH2 O D NH2
- January 2021, Unit 5, Q15 (1 mark): The repeat unit of a polymer is shown. O H O H H H H H C C C N C C C N CH3 H H H This polymer could be A both a polypeptide and a polyamide B neither a polypept
- October 2020, Unit 5, Q10 (1 mark): Part of the structure of a protein is shown. OH O O O H H H N N N N N N H H H O O O OH OH How many different amino acids were used to form this part of the stru
- January 2020, Unit 4, Q3 (1 mark): A polymer is prepared by the reaction between hexanedioyl dichloride and hexane-1-6-diamine. What type of polymerisation occurs? A addition B condensation C hyd
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