hydroxyalkylCoA

HydroxyalkylCoA refers to a class of coenzyme A thioesters in which the acyl portion bears a hydroxyl-substituted alkyl group. This term is broad and can denote any hydroxyalkyl carboxyl-CoA, with beta-hydroxyacyl-CoA species being the most familiar due to their central role in fatty acid metabolism. As a result, hydroxyalkylCoA derivatives can arise in various pathways that handle hydroxy-substituted carbon chains.

Formation and enzymatic processing occur when a hydroxyalkyl substrate is converted to its CoA thioester by acyl-CoA synthetases. In fatty acid beta-oxidation, enoyl-CoA hydratase adds water to form beta-hydroxyacyl-CoA, which is then oxidized by beta-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase to beta-ketoacyl-CoA and eventually cleaved by thiolase. Beyond beta-oxidation, hydroxyalkylCoA species appear as intermediates or substrates in diverse metabolic routes, including certain bacterial propionate and odd-chain fatty acid pathways, and in specialized carbon fixation cycles in archaea.

Because hydroxyalkylCoA denotes a family rather than a single compound, the precise chemical properties depend on the specific hydroxyalkyl substituent. These molecules are studied in biochemistry and metabolomics using techniques such as mass spectrometry and chromatography to elucidate their roles in metabolism. In summary, hydroxyalkylCoA represents CoA thioesters bearing hydroxy-containing alkyl groups and encompasses key intermediates in lipid metabolism and other carbon-processing pathways.