Hydrolýzu

Hydrolýzu, or hydrolysis, is a chemical reaction in which a bond is cleaved through the addition of water. In most cases, one fragment receives a hydrogen atom and the other a hydroxyl group, resulting in two or more smaller molecules. Hydrolysis is common for bonds such as esters, amides, phosphoesters, and glycosidic linkages.

Hydrolysis can be catalyzed by acids or bases, or by specific enzymes. In acid-catalyzed hydrolysis, protonation of a carbonyl group increases its susceptibility to attack by water. Base-catalyzed hydrolysis typically proceeds via nucleophilic attack by hydroxide. Enzymatic hydrolysis is carried out by hydrolase enzymes (such as proteases, lipases, amylases, and glycosidases) and is the dominant pathway in biological systems.

Common examples include ester hydrolysis to carboxylic acids and alcohols; saponification is the base-catalyzed hydrolysis of fats to glycerol and fatty acids (or their salts). Glycoside hydrolysis breaks down carbohydrates into sugars. Peptide bond hydrolysis releases amino acids from proteins and peptides.

In biology, hydrolysis is essential for digestion and metabolism, enabling absorption of nutrients. In chemistry and industry, hydrolysis is used to degrade polymers, recycle materials, and synthesize products. The rate of hydrolysis depends on pH, temperature, catalysts, and the structure of the substrate.

Environmental and pharmaceutical contexts: hydrolysis can inactivate certain pesticides and drugs, determined by water content and pH. Measuring hydrolysis rates, or hydrolysis half-lives, helps predict stability of compounds in soils, waters, and biological environments.