hydrolysis (hīdrŏl`ĭsĭs), chemical reaction of a compound with water, usually resulting in the formation of one or more new compounds. The most common hydrolysis occurs when a salt of a weak acid or weak base (or both) is dissolved in water. Water ionizes into negative hydroxyl ions (OH⁻) and positive hydrogen ions (H⁺), which become hydrated to form positive hydronium ions (H₃O⁺). The salt also breaks up into positive and negative ions. For example, when sodium acetate is dissolved in water it readily dissociates into sodium and acetate ions. Because sodium hydroxide is a strong base, the sodium ions react only slightly with the hydroxyl ions already present in the water to form sodium hydroxide molecules. Acetic acid is a weak acid, so the acetate ions react readily with the hydrogen ions present in the water to form neutral acetic acid molecules. The net result of these reactions is a relative excess of hydroxyl ions, causing an alkaline solution. A chemical reaction has actually taken place between the water and the dissolved salt. There are relatively few instances in which water reacts directly with organic compounds under ordinary conditions. It does react with acid halides, acid anhydrides, and organometallic compounds, e.g., Grignard reagents Grignard reagent (grēnyärd` rēā`jənt)
..... Click the link for more information. . The addition of strong acids or bases or the use of steam will often bring about hydrolysis where ordinary water has no effect. Some industrially important hydrolysis reactions are the synthesis of alcohols from olefins (e.g., ethanol, CH₃COOH, from ethene, CH₂CH₂) in the presence of a strong acid catalyst, the conversion of starches to sugars in the presence of a strong acid catalyst, and the conversion of animal fats or vegetable oils to glycerol and fatty acids by reaction with steam. Hydrolysis is an important reaction in plants and animals (see metabolism metabolism, sum of all biochemical processes involved in life. Two subcategories of metabolism are anabolism, the building up of complex organic molecules from simpler precursors, and catabolism , the breakdown of complex substances into simpler molecules, often
..... Click the link for more information. ). The catalytic action of certain enzymes enzyme, biological catalyst . The term enzyme comes from zymosis, the Greek word for fermentation , a process accomplished by yeast cells and long known to the brewing industry, which occupied the attention of many 19th-century chemists.
..... Click the link for more information. allows the hydrolysis of proteins, fats, oils, and carbohydrates.

hydrolysis

Chemical reaction in which water (H₂O or HOH) and another reactant exchange functional groups to form two products, one containing the H and the other the OH. In most hydrolyses involving organic compounds, the other reactants and products are neutral; for example, an ester can be hydrolyzed to form a carboxylic acid and an alcohol. Such reactions are often accelerated by enzymes (as in much of digestion and metabolism in general) or other catalysts. In hydrolyses of compounds with ionic bonds, the nonwater reactants are salts, acids, or bases, participating in dissociation reactions.

hydrolysis

a chemical reaction in which a compound reacts with water to produce other compounds

hydrolysis [hī′dräl·ə·səs]

(chemistry)

Decomposition or alteration of a chemical substance by water.

In aqueous solutions of electrolytes, the reactions of cations with water to produce a weak base or of anions to produce a weak acid.

hydrolysis (redirected from hydrolytic)

hydrolysis

hydrolysis
(redirected from hydrolytic)