Pyruvic acid

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Pyruvic acid

Pyruvic acid (CH₃COCOOH) is an organic acid

Organic acid

An organic acid is an organic compound with acidic properties. The most common organic acids are the carboxylic acids whose acidity is associated with their carboxyl group -COOH....
. It is also a ketone

Ketone

In organic chemistry, a ketone is a type of organic compound which contains a carbonyl group bonded to two other carbon atoms in the form:Neither of the substituents R1 and R2 may be equal to hydrogen ....
. It is the simplest alpha-keto acid. The carboxylate (COOH) ion (anion) of pyruvic acid is known as pyruvate. Pyruvate plays an important role in supplying energy to living cells, where glucose is converted into pyruvate (glycolysis

Glycolysis

Glycolysis is the metabolic pathway that converts glucose, C6H12O6, into pyruvate, C3H5O3-....
) in the citric acid cycle

Citric acid cycle

The citric acid cycle ? also known as the tricarboxylic acid cycle ; the Krebs cycle; or, more rarely, the Szent-Gy?rgyi-Krebs cycle) ? is a series of enzyme-catalysed chemical reactions of central importance in all living cell s that use oxygen as part of cellular respiration....
.

vic acid is a colorless liquid with a smell similar to that of acetic acid

Acetic acid

Acetic acid, CH3COOH, also known as ethanoic acid, is an organic acid which gives vinegar its sour taste and pungent smell. Pure, water-free acetic acid is a colourless liquid that absorbs water from the environment , and freezes at 16.7 Celsius to a colourless crystalline solid....
. It is miscible with water, and soluble in ethanol

Ethanol

Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatility , flammable, colorless liquid....
and diethyl ether

Diethyl ether

Diethyl ether, also known as ether and ethoxyethane, is a clear, colorless, and highly flammable liquid with a low boiling point and a characteristic odor....
.

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Chemistry

Pyruvic acid is a colorless liquid with a smell similar to that of acetic acid

Acetic acid

Ethanol

Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatility , flammable, colorless liquid....
and diethyl ether

Diethyl ether

Diethyl ether, also known as ether and ethoxyethane, is a clear, colorless, and highly flammable liquid with a low boiling point and a characteristic odor....
. In the laboratory, pyruvic acid may be prepared by heating a mixture of tartaric acid

Tartaric acid

Tartaric acid is a white crystalline organic acid. It occurs naturally in many plants, particularly grapes, bananas, and tamarinds, and is one of the main acids found in wine....
and potassium hydrogen sulfate

Potassium hydrogen sulfate

Potassium bisulfate is the potassium salt of bisulfate anion, with the molecular formula KHSO4. This compound is commonly used in the conversion of tartrates to bitartrates in wine....
, by the oxidation of propylene glycol

Propylene glycol

Propylene glycol, known also by the systematic name propane-1,2-diol, is an organic compound , usually a faintly sweet, and colorless clear viscous liquid that is hygroscopic and miscible with water, acetone, and chloroform....
by a strong oxidizer (eg. potassium permanganate

Potassium permanganate

Potassium permanganate is the inorganic chemical compound potassiummanganeseoxygen4, a water soluble salt consisting of equal Mole amounts of potassium and permanganate ions....
or bleach

Bleach

A bleach is a chemical that removes colors or whitens, often via oxidation. Common chemical bleaches include household "chlorine bleach", a solution of approximately 3?6% sodium hypochlorite , and "oxygen bleach", which contains hydrogen peroxide or a peroxide-releasing compound such as sodium perborate, sodium percarbonate, sodium persulfat...
), or by the hydrolysis of acetyl cyanide, formed by reaction of acetyl chloride

Acetyl chloride

Acetyl chloride is an acid chloride derived from acetic acid. It has the formula CH3COCl and it belongs to the class of organic compounds called acyl halides....
with potassium cyanide

Potassium cyanide

Potassium cyanide is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula KCN. This colorless crystalline compound, similar in appearance to sugar, is highly soluble in water....
:

CH₃COCl + KCN ? CH₃COCN

CH₃COCN ? CH₃COCOOH

Biochemistry

Pyruvate is an important chemical compound

Chemical compound

A chemical compound is a Chemical substance consisting of two or more different chemical element Chemical bond together in a fixed mass ratio that can be split into simpler substances....
in biochemistry

Biochemistry

Biochemistry is the study of the chemistry processes in living organisms. It deals with the structure and function of cellular components such as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids and other biomolecules....
. It is the output of the anaerobic metabolism of glucose

Glucose

Glucose , a monosaccharide also known as grape sugar, blood sugar, or corn sugar, is a very important carbohydrate in biology....
known as glycolysis

Glycolysis

Glycolysis is the metabolic pathway that converts glucose, C6H12O6, into pyruvate, C3H5O3-....
. One molecule of glucose

Glucose

Glucose , a monosaccharide also known as grape sugar, blood sugar, or corn sugar, is a very important carbohydrate in biology....
breaks down into two molecules of pyruvate, which are then used to provide further energy, in one of two ways. Pyruvate is converted into acetyl-coenzyme A

Acetyl-CoA

Acetyl-CoA is an important molecule in metabolism, used in many biochemical reactions. Its main use is to convey the carbon atoms within the acetyl group to the citric acid cycle to be oxidation for energy production....
, which is the main input for a series of reactions known as the Krebs cycle. Pyruvate is also converted to oxaloacetate by an anaplerotic reaction

Anaplerotic reactions

Anaplerotic:Ana-up,Plerotikos-to fillAnaplerotic reactions are those that form intermediates of the TCA or citric acid cycle. The malate is created by PEP carboxylase and malate dehydrogenase in the cytosol....
which replenishes Krebs cycle intermediates; alternatively, the oxaloacetate is used for gluconeogenesis

Gluconeogenesis

Gluconeogenesis is a metabolic pathway that results in the generation of glucose from non-carbohydrate carbon substrates such as lactic acid, glycerol, and glucogenic amino acids....
. These reactions are named after Hans Adolf Krebs

Hans Adolf Krebs

Hans Adolf Krebs was a German born British physician and biochemist. Krebs is best known for his identification of two important metabolic cycles: the urea cycle and the citric acid cycle....
, the biochemist awarded the 1953 Nobel Prize

Nobel Prize

The Nobel Prize , established in the 1895 will of Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel; it was first awarded in Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Nobel Prize in Literature, and Nobel Peace Prize in 1901....
for physiology, jointly with Fritz Lipmann, for research into metabolic processes. The cycle is also called the citric acid cycle

Citric acid cycle

The citric acid cycle ? also known as the tricarboxylic acid cycle ; the Krebs cycle; or, more rarely, the Szent-Gy?rgyi-Krebs cycle) ? is a series of enzyme-catalysed chemical reactions of central importance in all living cell s that use oxygen as part of cellular respiration....
, because citric acid is one of the intermediate compounds formed during the reactions.

If insufficient oxygen is available, the acid is broken down anaerobically, creating lactate

Lactate

Lactate may refer to:*The act of lactation*A salt or ester of lactic acid...
in animals and ethanol

Ethanol

Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatility , flammable, colorless liquid....
in plants. Pyruvate from glycolysis is converted by anaerobic respiration

Anaerobic respiration

Anaerobic respiration is the process of generating energy through cellular respiration , without the use of oxygen....
to lactate

Lactic acid

Lactic acid , also known as milk acid, is a chemical compound that plays a role in several biochemistry processes. It was first isolated in 1780 by a Swedish chemist, Carl Wilhelm Scheele, and is a carboxylic acid with a chemical formula of C3H6O3....
using the enzyme

Enzyme

Enzymes are biomolecules that catalysis chemical reactions. Almost all enzymes are proteins. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process are called Substrate , and the enzyme converts them into different molecules, the products....
lactate dehydrogenase

Lactate dehydrogenase

Lactate dehydrogenase is an enzyme present in a wide variety of organisms, including plants and animals....
and the coenzyme

Coenzyme

Many enzymes require a cofactor for catalytic activity, accelerating the transformation of a specific substrate to a particular product. The inactive protein, without the cofactor is called an apoenzyme, while the complete enzyme with cofactor is the holoenzyme....
NADH in lactate fermentation

Fermentation (biochemistry)

Fermentation is the process of deriving energy from the Redox of organic compounds, such as carbohydrates, using an Endogeny electron acceptor, which is usually an organic compound....
, or to acetaldehyde

Acetaldehyde

Acetaldehyde is an organic compound with the chemical formula CarbonHydrogen3CHOxygen or MeCHO. It is a flammable liquid with a fruity smell....
and then to ethanol in alcoholic fermentation.

Pyruvate is a key intersection in the network of metabolic pathway

Metabolic pathway

In biochemistry, a metabolic pathway is a series of chemistry reactions occurring within a cell . In each pathway, a principal chemical is modified by chemical reactions....
s. Pyruvate can be converted to carbohydrate

Carbohydrate

Carbohydrates or saccharides are the most abundant of the four major classes of biomolecules. They fill numerous roles in living things, such as the storage and transport of energy and structural components ....
s via gluconeogenesis

Gluconeogenesis

Fatty acid

In chemistry, especially biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid often with a long unbranched aliphatic tail , which is either saturation or Unsaturated compound....
s or energy through acetyl-CoA

Acetyl-CoA

Amino acid

In chemistry, an amino acid is a molecule containing both amine and carboxyl functional groups. These molecules are particularly important in biochemistry, where this term refers to alpha-amino acids with the general formula H2NCHRCOOH, where R is an organic substituent....
alanine

Alanine

Alanine is an a-amino acid with the chemical formula CH3CHCOOH. The L-isomer is one of the 20 proteinogenic amino acids, i.e. the building blocks of proteins....
and to ethanol

Ethanol

Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatility , flammable, colorless liquid....
. Therefore it unites several key metabolic processes.

The pyruvic acid derivative bromopyruvic acid

Bromopyruvic acid

Bromopyruvic acid, or bromopyruvate, is a synthetic bromine derivative of pyruvic acid. It is being studied as a potential treatment for certain types of cancer....
is being studied for potential cancer treatment applications by researchers at Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Hopkins or JHU, is a private university research university located in Baltimore, Maryland, Maryland, United States....
in ways that would support the Warburg hypothesis

Warburg hypothesis

Warburg's hypothesis was postulated by the Nobel laureate Otto Heinrich Warburg in 1924. He hypothesized that cancer, malignant growth, and tumor growth are caused by the fact that tumor cells mainly generate energy by non-oxidative breakdown of glucose ....
on the cause(s) of cancer.

Pyruvate production by glycolysis

In glycolysis

Glycolysis

Glycolysis is the metabolic pathway that converts glucose, C6H12O6, into pyruvate, C3H5O3-....
, phosphoenolpyruvate

Phosphoenolpyruvate

Phosphoenolpyruvic acid , or phosphoenolpyruvate as the anion, is an important chemical compound in biochemistry. It has the high-energy phosphate bond found in living organisms, and is involved in glycolysis and gluconeogenesis....
(PEP) is converted to pyruvate by pyruvate kinase

Pyruvate kinase

Pyruvate kinase is an enzyme involved in glycolysis. It catalyst the transfer of a phosphate group from phosphoenolpyruvate to adenosine diphosphate, yielding one molecule of pyruvate and one molecule of adenosine triphosphate....
. This reaction is strongly exergonic and irreversible; in gluconeogenesis

Gluconeogenesis

Pyruvate carboxylase

Pyruvate carboxylase is an enzyme of the ligase class that catalyzes the irreversible carboxylation of pyruvate to form oxaloacetate .It is an important Anaplerotic reactions that provides oxaloacetate precursor for the citric acid cycle....
and PEP carboxykinase to catalyze the reverse transformation of pyruvate to PEP.

Pyruvate decarboxylation to acetyl CoA

Pyruvate decarboxylation by the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex produces acetyl-CoA

Acetyl-CoA

Pyruvate carboxylation to oxaloacetate

Carboxylation by the pyruvate carboxylase

Pyruvate carboxylase

Transamination by the alanine aminotransferase

Reduction to lactate

Reduction by the lactate dehydrogenase

Lactate dehydrogenase

Lactate dehydrogenase is an enzyme present in a wide variety of organisms, including plants and animals....
produces lactate

Lactate

Lactate may refer to:*The act of lactation*A salt or ester of lactic acid...
.

Origin of life

Current evolutionary theory on the origin of life posits that the first organisms were anaerobic because the atmosphere of prebiotic Earth was, in theory, almost barren of oxygen. As such, requisite biochemical materials must have preceded life. In vitro, iron sulfide at sufficient pressure and temperature catalyzes the formation of pyruvate. Thus, argues Günter Wächtershäuser

Günter Wächtershäuser

G?nter W?chtersh?user , a Germany chemist turned Patent attorney, is mainly known for his work on the origin of life, and in particular his iron-sulfur world theory, a theory that life on Earth had hydrothermal origins....
, the mixing of iron-rich crust with hydrothermal vent fluid is suspected of providing the fertile basis for the formation of life.

Pyruvic acid

Chemistry

Biochemistry

Pyruvate production by glycolysis

Pyruvate decarboxylation to acetyl CoA

Pyruvate carboxylation to oxaloacetate

Transamination by the alanine aminotransferase

Reduction to lactate

Origin of life

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