Definition
Hydroxy acids are organic compounds containing both hydroxyl and carboxylic acid functional groups. α-Hydroxy acids are a particularly important class of carboxylic acids which have a hydroxyl group on the carbon adjacent to the carboxylic acid group or α-carbon. They may be either naturally occurring or synthetic. Commonly occurring biological α-hydroxy acids include lactic (CH3CHOHCOOH), glyceric (HOCH2CHOHCOOH), glycolic (HOCH2COOH), and malic (HOOCCH2CHOHCOOH) acids. α-Hydroxy acids are important metabolic products of the biological transamination of amino acids. Several α-hydroxy acids and α-hydroxy acid polyols have been identified in the Murchison meteorite. Some interpret the presence of α-hydroxy acids in this body as evidence for the Strecker-cyanohydrin mechanism for the synthesis of the amino acids also found in it.
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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Cleaves, H.J.J. (2014). Hydroxy Acid. In: Amils, R., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_763-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_763-4
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Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27833-4
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Hydroxy Acid- Published:
- 21 February 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_763-5
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Hydroxy Acid- Published:
- 15 April 2015
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_763-4