The Biosynthesis of Fatty Acids and their Esters

The functional groups of acyl substitution reactions all relate to carboxylic acids. They include acyl chlorides, anhydrides, esters, amides, thioesters, carboxylic acids themselves, and others that we shall study in this chapter. In Special Topic C we shall see how acyl substitution reactions are used to synthesize polymers such as nylon and Mylar. In Special Topic E we shall consider the biosynthesis of fatty acids and other biological molecules by acyl substitution reactions. Although many functional groups participate in acyl substitution reactions, their reactions are all readily understandable because of the common mechanistic theme that unites them nucleophilic addition-elimination at an acyl carbon. 

Acetic acid is found in living systems as its coenzyme A ester(J.7). This is a reactive thioester and is a pivotal compound in biosynthesis. On the one hand, it is involved in the formation of the important long-chain fatty acids and their transformation products (Section 1.1.2). On the other hand, 3.1) is the source of small fragments... 

Timmen and Dimick (1972) characterized the major hydroxy compounds in milk lipids by first isolating the compounds as their pyruvic ester-2,.6-dinitrophenylhydrazones. Concentrations as weight percent of the compounds from bovine herd milk lipids were 1,2-DGs 1.43, hydroxyacylglycerols 0.61, and sterols 0.35. Lipolysis tripled the DG content. The usual milk fatty acids were observed, except that the DGs lacked 4 0 and 6 00, again indicating that these lipids were in part intermediates in milk lipid biosynthesis. With the large hydrazone group... 

A considerable amount of knowledge has accumulated about how pheromone components are produced in female moths since the first pathway was identified some 20 years ago. It appears that most female moths produce their pheromone through modifications of fatty acid biosynthesis pathways. For moths that utilize aldehydes, alcohols, or esters biosynthesis occurs in the pheromone gland. The exceptions are those that utilize linoleic or linolenic acids, which must be obtained from the diet. However, modifications of these fatty acids occur in the gland. For moths that utilize hydrocarbons or epoxides of hydrocarbons, the hydrocarbon is produced in oenocyte cells and then transported to the pheromone gland where the epoxidation step takes place. 

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