Glutamic acid (C5H9NO4): structure, properties and hazards

Names and identifiers

IUPAC name: (2S)-2-aminopentanedioic acid
Synonyms: glutamate, L-glutamic acid, MSG
+ 37 more
(2S)-2-Aminopentanedioic acid, L-glutamate, (S)-2-Aminopentanedioic acid, Glutamidex, Glutaton, L-Glutaminic acid, Aciglut, Glutaminol, glutacid, Glutamicol, (S)-Glutamic acid, glutaminic acid, L-glu, L-(+)-glutamic acid, Glutamic acid, L-, Acido glutamico, Acide glutamique, alpha-aminoglutaric acid, Acidum glutamicum, (S)-(+)-Glutamic acid, L-alpha-Aminoglutaric acid, Acidum glutaminicum, glut, L-2-Aminoglutaric acid, 1-Aminopropane-1,3-dicarboxylic acid, FEMA No. 3285, alpha-Glutamic acid, 2-Aminoglutaric acid, DTXSID5020659, aminoglutaric acid, L-2-amino-pentanedioic acid, DTXCID30659, 3KX376GY7L, INS NO.620, INS-620, E 620, NSC-143503
Molecular formula: C₅H₉NO₄
Empirical formula: C₅H₉NO₄
Molecular weight: 147.13 g/mol
Exact mass: 147.05316
CAS number: 56-86-0
PubChem CID: 33032
Canonical SMILES: C(CC(=O)O)C(C(=O)O)N
Isomeric SMILES: C(CC(=O)O)[C@@H](C(=O)O)N
InChI: InChI=1S/C5H9NO4/c6-3(5(9)10)1-2-4(7)8/h3H,1-2,6H2,(H,7,8)(H,9,10)/t3-/m0/s1
InChIKey: WHUUTDBJXJRKMK-VKHMYHEASA-N
Molfile

Names, InChI and the identifiers from PubChem, retrieved 2026-10-14.

Physical properties

TemperaturePressureDensity

Appearance: Large Crystals[1]
Odor: Odorless[2]
Melting point: 213 °C (OECD Guideline 102 (Melting point / Melting Range))[2]
Solubility in water: In water, 8570 mg/L at 25 °C[2]
log P: log Kow = -3.69 at pH 7.0[2]
Vapor pressure: Vapor pressure: 1.7 × 10⁻⁸ mmHg at 25 °C (extrapolated from liquid-phase temperatures to a solid at 25 °C)[2]
2 values
Only one source reports it.
Value As written Source
1.7e-8 mmHgshown Vapor pressure: 1.7X10-8 mm Hg at 25 °C /Extrapolated from liquid-phase temperatures to a solid at 25 °C/ [2] Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB)cites Daubert TE, Danner RP; Physical and Thermodynamic Properties of Pure Chemicals Data Compilation. Design Institute for Physical Property Data, American Institute of Chemical Engineers. Hemisphere Pub. Corp., New York, NY (1997)
< 0.000011 mmHg <1.10X10-5 mm Hg at 20 °C (OECD Guideline 104 (Vapor Pressure Curve)) [2] Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB)cites ECHA; Search for Chemicals. Glutamic Acid (CAS 56-86-0) Registered Substances Dossier. European Chemical Agency. Available from, as of June 17, 2015: https://echa.europa.eu/

Value	As written	Source
1.7e-8 mmHgshown	Vapor pressure: 1.7X10-8 mm Hg at 25 °C /Extrapolated from liquid-phase temperatures to a solid at 25 °C/	[2] Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB)cites Daubert TE, Danner RP; Physical and Thermodynamic Properties of Pure Chemicals Data Compilation. Design Institute for Physical Property Data, American Institute of Chemical Engineers. Hemisphere Pub. Corp., New York, NY (1997)
< 0.000011 mmHg	<1.10X10-5 mm Hg at 20 °C (OECD Guideline 104 (Vapor Pressure Curve))	[2] Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB)cites ECHA; Search for Chemicals. Glutamic Acid (CAS 56-86-0) Registered Substances Dossier. European Chemical Agency. Available from, as of June 17, 2015: https://echa.europa.eu/

Each value as its source reports it, with the source's number after it (listed under References). Where several sources report a property, the row shows the value most of them agree on, the rule the app uses; open the values to see every one.

Calculated

Heavy atoms: 10
Rings: 0
Aromatic rings: 0
Fraction sp³ carbons (Fsp3): 0.6
H-bond donors: 3
H-bond acceptors: 3 computed here · PubChem 5
Rotatable bonds: 4
TPSA (Å²): 100.6 computed here · PubChem 101
Formal charge: 0
XLogP3: -3.7 PubChem
Complexity: 145 PubChem
Stereocenters: 1 definedCIP: C2: S
Double-bond geometry: None specified
Point group: C1 of one 3D conformer with its hydrogens, by Athanor’s engine (as in the app)

Elemental analysis

C40.82%
H6.17%
N9.52%
O43.50%

Isotope pattern

Each peak is a nominal mass with its abundance-weighted exact mass, as a percentage of the tallest, from IUPAC natural isotope abundances.

Computed from the structure with RDKit 2026.09 when this page was built, beside PubChem's own computed values from its record; where the two differ, both are shown.

Predicted

log P: -0.74 Crippen (Wildman and Crippen 1999)
log S (water solubility): -0.02 ESOL (Delaney 2004), log mol/L
Synthetic accessibility: 2.32 SA score, 1 easy to 10 hard (Ertl and Schuffenhauer 2009)

Drug-likeness: Lipinski’s rule of five

Molecular weight ≤ 500: 147.13
log P ≤ 5 (Crippen): -0.74
H-bond donors ≤ 5: 3
H-bond acceptors ≤ 10: 3

Passes all four rules.

¹³C NMR shifts, predicted

Predictions, not measurements; each names its method. A measured log P, where a source reports one, is under Physical properties.

Safety

Danger

From Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB). Source [2].

Corrosive

H314Causes severe skin burns and eye damage
H318Causes serious eye damage

Precautionary statements: P260, P264, P264+P265, P280, P301+P330+P331, P302+P361+P354, P304+P340, P305+P354+P338, P316, P317, P321, P363, P405, P501

View all classifications (2)

[3] European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) · 307 reportsThis chemical does not meet GHS hazard criteria for 95.4% (293 of 307) of all reports.
[2] Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB) · DangerH314, H318

Storage

Keep container tightly closed in a dry and well-ventilated place. (L-Glutamic acid hydrochloride)[2]

Incompatibilities

Strong oxidizing agents (L-Glutamic acid hydrochloride)[2]

Safety data sheets on the supplier’s page: Accela ChemBio Inc., Fluorochem, Alfa Chemistry.

Always read the supplier’s safety data sheet before working with it.

Spectra

Experimental spectra held by these sources; each link opens the source's own record.

Literature

Reading PubChem, OpenAlex and GSRS…

Bioactivity

Reading ChEMBL…

References

[1]EPA Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) · Public domain (US EPA) · via PubChem · retrieved 2026-10-14
[2]Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB) · Public domain (US NLM) · via PubChem · retrieved 2026-10-14
[3]European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) · ECHA legal notice: reuse with acknowledgement · via PubChem · retrieved 2026-10-14
[4]Human Metabolome Database (HMDB) · Linked only · via PubChem · retrieved 2026-10-14
[5]SpectraBase · Linked only · via PubChem · retrieved 2026-10-14
[6]MassBank Europe · Linked only · via PubChem · retrieved 2026-10-14
[7]MassBank of North America (MoNA) · CC BY 4.0 · via PubChem · retrieved 2026-10-14
[8]NIST Mass Spectrometry Data Center · Linked only · via PubChem · retrieved 2026-10-14
·Calculated values: computed by Athanor with RDKit 2026.09 from the structure.
·Literature on PubChem

Data last updated 2026-10-14.

Similar structures

Tanimoto similarity on Morgan fingerprints (radius 2) with RDKit 2026.09, at least 45%.

Isomers in the library

D-Glutamic acid