Isovanillin is a

phenolic aldehyde Phenolic aldehydes are derivatives of phenol. Phenolic aldehydes can be found in wines and cognacs. Examples : * Hydroxybenzaldehydes * Protocatechuic aldehyde * Vanillin and isovanillin * 2,3,4-trihydroxybenzaldehyde can be isolated from ''Antig ...

, an

organic compound In chemistry, organic compounds are generally any chemical compounds that contain carbon-hydrogen or carbon-carbon bonds. Due to carbon's ability to catenate (form chains with other carbon atoms), millions of organic compounds are known. The ...

and

isomer In chemistry, isomers are molecules or polyatomic ions with identical molecular formulae – that is, same number of atoms of each element – but distinct arrangements of atoms in space. Isomerism is existence or possibility of isomers. Iso ...

vanillin Vanillin is an organic compound with the molecular formula . It is a phenolic aldehyde. Its functional groups include aldehyde, hydroxyl, and ether. It is the primary component of the extract of the vanilla bean. Synthetic vanillin is now used ...

. It is a selective inhibitor of

aldehyde oxidase Aldehyde oxidase (AO) is a metabolizing enzyme, located in the cytosolic compartment of tissues in many organisms. AO catalyzes the oxidation of aldehydes into carboxylic acid, and in addition, catalyzes the hydroxylation of some heterocycles. I ...

. It is not a substrate of that enzyme, and is metabolized by

aldehyde dehydrogenase Aldehyde dehydrogenases () are a group of enzymes that catalyse the oxidation of aldehydes. They convert aldehydes (R–C(=O)) to carboxylic acids (R–C(=O)). The oxygen comes from a water molecule. To date, nineteen ALDH genes have be ...

into isovanillic acid, which could make it a candidate drug for use in alcohol aversion therapy. Isovanillin can be used as a

precursor Precursor or Precursors may refer to: *Precursor (religion), a forerunner, predecessor ** The Precursor, John the Baptist Science and technology * Precursor (bird), a hypothesized genus of fossil birds that was composed of fossilized parts of unr ...

in the chemical

total synthesis Total synthesis is the complete chemical synthesis of a complex molecule, often a natural product, from simple, commercially-available precursors. It usually refers to a process not involving the aid of biological processes, which distinguishes ...

morphine Morphine is a strong opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin in poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as a analgesic, pain medication, and is also commonly used recreational drug, recreationally, or to make ...

. The proposed metabolism of isovanillin (and vanillin) in

rat Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include ''Neotoma'' ( pack rats), ''Bandicota'' (bandicoot ...

has been described in literature, and is part of the

WikiPathways WikiPathways is a community resource for contributing and maintaining content dedicated to biological pathways. Any registered WikiPathways user can contribute, and anybody can become a registered user. Contributions are monitored by a group of a ...

machine readable pathway collection.

References

Hydroxybenzaldehydes Flavors Perfume ingredients Phenol ethers {{Organic-compound-stub

See also

References