Hydroxybutyric acid is a group of four-carbon
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 ...
s that have both
hydroxyl
In chemistry, a hydroxy or hydroxyl group is a functional group with the chemical formula and composed of one oxygen atom covalently bonded to one hydrogen atom. In organic chemistry, alcohols and carboxylic acids contain one or more hydroxy ...
and
carboxylic acid
In organic chemistry, a carboxylic acid is an organic acid that contains a carboxyl group () attached to an R-group. The general formula of a carboxylic acid is or , with R referring to the alkyl, alkenyl, aryl, or other group. Carboxylic ...
functional group
In organic chemistry, a functional group is a substituent or moiety in a molecule that causes the molecule's characteristic chemical reactions. The same functional group will undergo the same or similar chemical reactions regardless of the rest ...
s.
They can be viewed as derivatives of
butyric acid
Butyric acid (; from grc, βούτῡρον, meaning "butter"), also known under the systematic name butanoic acid, is a straight-chain alkyl carboxylic acid with the chemical formula CH3CH2CH2CO2H. It is an oily, colorless liquid with an unple ...
. The
carboxylate anion
In organic chemistry, a carboxylate is the conjugate base of a carboxylic acid, (or ). It is an ion with negative charge.
Carboxylate salts are salts that have the general formula , where M is a metal and ''n'' is 1, 2,...; ''carboxylat ...
and the
ester
In chemistry, an ester is a compound derived from an oxoacid (organic or inorganic) in which at least one hydroxyl group () is replaced by an alkoxy group (), as in the substitution reaction of a carboxylic acid and an alcohol. Glycerides ar ...
s of hydroxybutyric acids are known as hydroxybutyrates. β-hydroxybutyric acid is relevant to human health as it is a member of a class of products of fatty acid oxidation referred to as
ketone bodies
Ketone bodies are water-soluble molecules that contain the ketone groups produced from fatty acids by the liver (ketogenesis). Ketone bodies are readily transported into tissues outside the liver, where they are converted into acetyl-CoA (acetyl- ...
.
The
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 ...
s are distinguished by the distance between the two functional groups and te branching.
*
''alpha''-Hydroxybutyric acid (2-hydroxybutyric acid)
*
''beta''-Hydroxybutyric acid (3-hydroxybutyric acid)
*
''gamma''-Hydroxybutyric acid (4-hydroxybutyric acid, GHB)
*
2-hydroxyisobutyric acid
2-Hydroxyisobutyric acid is the organic compound with the formula . A white solid, it is classified as an hydroxycarboxylic acid. It has been considered as a naturally occurring precursor to polyesters. It is closely related to lactic acid ().
...
See also
*
''beta''-Hydroxy ''beta''-methylbutyric acid
*
Sodium oxybate
Sodium oxybate, sold under the brand name Xyrem among others, is a medication used to treat two symptoms of narcolepsy: sudden muscle weakness and excessive daytime sleepiness. It is used sometimes in France and Italy as an anesthetic given i ...
References
External links
*
{{chemistry index
Hydroxy acids