Hydrolyzes

Hydrolyzes is the third-person singular form of hydrolyze, a chemical process in which a molecule is cleaved by reaction with water. In hydrolysis, water supplies a hydrogen atom and a hydroxyl group that become parts of the two resulting fragments. The reaction can proceed under acid or base catalysis or be catalyzed by specific enzymes.

Acid-catalyzed hydrolysis involves protonation of a leaving group and water attack, common in ester and glycosidic bond cleavage. Base-catalyzed hydrolysis, or saponification in the case of esters, uses hydroxide to generate carboxylate salts and alcohols. Enzymatic hydrolysis, catalyzed by hydrolases, is central to biology and digestion; proteases cleave peptide bonds in proteins, lipases cleave ester linkages in fats, and glycosidases cleave sugar bonds. Many practical reactions, such as the hydrolysis of sucrose to glucose and fructose, or the hydrolysis of esters to carboxylic acids and alcohols, occur rapidly under enzymatic conditions.

In industry and the environment, hydrolysis is used to break down polymers (for example, polyester degradation), to process foods, and to contribute to bioremediation of certain esters and nitriles. The rate and outcome depend on pH, temperature, catalysts, and the leaving group ability of the fragment.

Note: Hydrolysis differs from condensation reactions; hydrolysis consumes water, whereas dehydration (condensation) forms bonds with water removal.