hydrolysebare

Hydrolysebare is a property used to describe chemical species that can undergo hydrolysis, a reaction in which water cleaves one or more bonds within a molecule. Hydrolysis can occur spontaneously under certain conditions or be catalyzed by acids, bases, or specific enzymes known as hydrolases. The term principally applies to compounds containing bonds that are susceptible to nucleophilic attack by water, such as esters, amides, glycosidic, phosphodiester, carbonate, and anhydride linkages.

Typical products of hydrolysis depend on the bond broken: ester hydrolysis yields an alcohol and a carboxylic acid (or carboxylate salt under basic conditions); amide hydrolysis yields an amine and a carboxylate; glycosidic bond hydrolysis yields monosaccharides; peptide bond hydrolysis yields amino acids; phosphodiester bond hydrolysis yields nucleotides or nucleosides.

Hydrolyzable polymers, such as polyesters (for example polylactic acid), polycarbonates, and certain biodegradable polymers, degrade over time by hydrolysis, a key process in compostability and drug-delivery systems like PLGA. In biology, hydrolysis is central to digestion and metabolism, enabling the breakdown of fats, carbohydrates, and proteins into absorbable units.

Factors influencing hydrolysis include pH, temperature, water activity, and catalytic presence, with enzymes providing high specificity and rate in biological systems.