Skip to Content

Hydrolysis

« Back to Glossary Index

**1. Types of Hydrolysis:**
– Hydrolysis is a chemical process where a water molecule is added to a substance.
– Sometimes, both the substance and water molecule split into two parts in the reaction.
– In such reactions, one fragment of the target molecule gains a hydrogen ion.
– This process breaks a chemical bond in the compound.
– Hydrolysis can be a reversal of a condensation reaction where two molecules join to form a larger one and eject a water molecule.

**2. Salts Hydrolysis:**
– A common hydrolysis occurs when a salt of a weak acid or base dissolves in water.
Water ionizes into hydroxide anions and hydronium cations spontaneously.
– The salt also dissociates into its constituent anions and cations.
– Strong acids also undergo hydrolysis when dissolved in water.
– This process can result in a basic solution due to the excess of hydroxide ions.

**3. Esters and Amides Hydrolysis:**
– Acid-base-catalyzed hydrolysis is common, such as the hydrolysis of amides or esters.
– Hydrolysis of esters and amides occurs when a nucleophile attacks the carbon of the carbonyl group.
– Ester hydrolysis includes processes like saponification, forming soap from a triglyceride.
– Enzymes catalyze most biochemical reactions, including ATP hydrolysis.
– Proteases catalyze the hydrolysis of peptide bonds in proteins, aiding in digestion.

**4. ATP and Hydrolysis:**
– Hydrolysis is crucial for energy metabolism and storage in living cells.
– Cells use energy derived from the oxidation of nutrients to produce ATP.
– ATP can undergo hydrolysis to release energy for biosynthesis and active transport.
– ATP hydrolysis can yield ADP and inorganic phosphate or AMP and pyrophosphate.
– This process drives biosynthesis reactions in cells.

**5. Polysaccharides and Hydrolysis:**
– Monosaccharides can be linked by glycosidic bonds, which can be cleaved by hydrolysis.
– Hydrolysis of disaccharides like sucrose yields glucose and fructose.
– Enzymes known as glycoside hydrolases hydrolyze glycosidic bonds.
– Polysaccharides can be hydrolyzed into soluble sugars in a process known as saccharification.
Malt from barley is a source of enzymes like β-amylase used to break down starch into sugars.

Hydrolysis (Wikipedia)

Hydrolysis (/hˈdrɒlɪsɪs/; from Ancient Greek hydro- 'water', and lysis 'to unbind') is any chemical reaction in which a molecule of water breaks one or more chemical bonds. The term is used broadly for substitution, elimination, and solvation reactions in which water is the nucleophile.

Generic hydrolysis reaction. (The 2-way yield symbol indicates an equilibrium in which hydrolysis and condensation are reversible.)

Biological hydrolysis is the cleavage of biomolecules where a water molecule is consumed to affect the separation of a larger molecule into component parts. When a carbohydrate is broken into its component sugar molecules by hydrolysis (e.g., sucrose being broken down into glucose and fructose), this is recognized as saccharification.

Hydrolysis reactions can be the reverse of a condensation reaction in which two molecules join into a larger one and eject a water molecule. Thus hydrolysis adds water to break down, whereas condensation builds up by removing water.

« Back to Glossary Index