Glyceric acid is a natural three-carbon sugar acid obtained from the oxidation of glycerol. CH₂OH-CHOH-CH₂OH+O₂→CH₂OH-CHOH-COOH+H₂O Salts and esters of glyceric acid are known as glycerates.

Biochemistry

Several phosphate derivatives of glyceric acid, including 2-phosphoglyceric acid,

3-phosphoglyceric acid 3-Phosphoglyceric acid (3PG, 3-PGA, or PGA) is the conjugate acid of 3-phosphoglycerate or glycerate 3-phosphate (GP or G3P). This glycerate is a biochemically significant metabolic intermediate in both glycolysis and the Calvin-Benson cycle. The ...

2,3-bisphosphoglyceric acid 2,3-Bisphosphoglyceric acid ( conjugate base 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate) (2,3-BPG), also known as 2,3-diphosphoglyceric acid (conjugate base 2,3-diphosphoglycerate) (2,3-DPG), is a three-carbon isomer of the glycolytic intermediate 1,3-bisphosphoglyc ...

, and

1,3-bisphosphoglyceric acid 1,3-Bisphosphoglyceric acid (1,3-Bisphosphoglycerate or 1,3BPG) is a 3-carbon organic molecule present in most, if not all, living organisms. It primarily exists as a metabolic intermediate in both glycolysis during respiration and the Calvin cycl ...

, are important biochemical intermediates in

glycolysis Glycolysis is the metabolic pathway that converts glucose () into pyruvate (). The free energy released in this process is used to form the high-energy molecules adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH ...

. 3-phosphoglyceric acid is an important molecule for the biosynthesis of the amino acid

serine Serine (symbol Ser or S) is an α-amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. It contains an α-amino group (which is in the protonated − form under biological conditions), a carboxyl group (which is in the deprotonated − form un ...

, which in turn can be used in the synthesis of glycine and

cysteine Cysteine (symbol Cys or C; ) is a semiessential proteinogenic amino acid with the formula . The thiol side chain in cysteine often participates in enzymatic reactions as a nucleophile. When present as a deprotonated catalytic residue, sometime ...

References

2. J.Berg,J.L.Tymoczko,L.Stryer. Biochemistry,7th edition. Sugar acids Alpha hydroxy acids Vicinal diols Propionic acids {{organic-compound-stub