BreadOven, (edited )

The R side chains are not referred to as radicals. R- is common in organic chemistry and refers to a part of a molecule not shown for some reason. Generally because it’s not the focus in the specific figure. Generally you’ll have a R = (whatever combination of atoms) defined below.

Radicals are a specific atom with an unpaired valence electron. Sometimes also called “free radicals”.

Edit, here’s an example of a non-amino acid use of R:

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/8ee1aa13-1df5-4e76-a14a-acf67c699c7b.jpeg

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