3-Hydroxypropionic acid is a
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. Carboxyl ...
, specifically a
beta hydroxy acid. It is an acidic viscous liquid with a
pKa
PKA may refer to:
* Professionally known as:
** Pen name
** Stage persona
* p''K''a, the symbol for the acid dissociation constant at logarithmic scale
* Protein kinase A, a class of cAMP-dependent enzymes
* Pi Kappa Alpha, the North-American so ...
of 4.5.
It is very soluble in water, soluble in
ethanol
Ethanol (abbr. EtOH; also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound. It is an alcohol with the chemical formula . Its formula can be also written as or (an ethyl group linked to a h ...
and
diethyl ether
Diethyl ether, or simply ether, is an organic compound in the ether class with the formula , sometimes abbreviated as (see Pseudoelement symbols). It is a colourless, highly volatile, sweet-smelling ("ethereal odour"), extremely flammable liq ...
. Upon distillation, it
dehydrates to form
acrylic acid
Acrylic acid (IUPAC: propenoic acid) is an organic compound with the formula CH2=CHCOOH. It is the simplest unsaturated carboxylic acid, consisting of a vinyl group connected directly to a carboxylic acid terminus. This colorless liquid has a ch ...
, and is occasionally called hydracrylic acid
3-Hydroxypropionic acid is used in the industrial production of various chemicals such as
acrylate
Acrylates (IUPAC: prop-2-enoates) are the salts, esters, and conjugate bases of acrylic acid. The acrylate ion is the anion C H2=CHC OO−. Often, acrylate refers to esters of acrylic acid, the most common member being methyl acrylate. These acr ...
s.
Synthesis
3-Hydroxypropionic acid can be obtained by base-induced hydration of acrylic acid followed by reacidification. Another synthesis involves cyanation of ethylene chlorohydrin followed by hydrolysis of the resulting nitrile. Hydrolysis of
propiolactone is yet another route.
Potential applications
The
polyester poly(3-hydroxypropionic acid) is a
biodegradable polymer. The method combines the high-molecular weight and control aspects of
ring-opening polymerization with the commercial availability of the beta hydroxy acid, 3-hydroxypropionic acid which is abbreviated as 3-HP. Since 3-HPA can be derived from biological sources, the resulting material, poly(3-hydroxypropionic acid) or P(3-HPA), is biorenewable.
Genetically encoded 3-hydroxypropionic acid inducible system
3-Hydroxypropionic acid can be produced by engineered
microbes
A microorganism, or microbe,, ''mikros'', "small") and ''organism'' from the el, ὀργανισμός, ''organismós'', "organism"). It is usually written as a single word but is sometimes hyphenated (''micro-organism''), especially in olde ...
.
A genetically encoded 3-hydroxypropionic acid inducible system has been characterized in bacteria demonstrating that such system in combination with fluorescent reporter protein can be utilized as a biosensor to measure intracellular and extracellular 3-HP concentrations by fluorescence output.
See also
*
Lactic acid
Lactic acid is an organic acid. It has a molecular formula . It is white in the solid state and it is miscible with water. When in the dissolved state, it forms a colorless solution. Production includes both artificial synthesis as well as natur ...
(2-hydroxypropanoic acid)
* listed as hydracrylic acid in the Merck index, 12th Edition
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hydroxypropanoic acid, 3-
Beta hydroxy acids
Propionic acids