Hydrolysis Synthesis

Hydrolysis Synthesis

Hydrolysis is a chemical reaction during which one or more water molecules are split into hydrogen and hydroxide ions which may go on to participate in further reactions. It is the type of reaction that is used to break down certain polymers, especially those made by step-growth polymerization. Such polymer degradation is usually catalysed by either acid or alkali attack, often increasing with their strength or pH.

Hydrolysis of Amide Links
In the hydrolysis of an amide link into a carboxylic acid and an amine or ammonia, the carboxylic acid has a hydroxyl group derived from a water molecule and the amine (or ammonia) gains the hydrogen ion. A specific case of the hydrolysis of an amide link is the hydrolysis of peptides to smaller fragments or amino acids. Other polymers made by step-growth polymerization are susceptible to similar polymer degradation reactions. The problem is known as stress corrosion cracking.

Hydrolysis of polysaccharides

In polysaccharides, monosaccharide molecules are linked together by a Glycosidic bond. This bond can be cleaved by hydrolysis to yield monosaccharide. The best known disaccharide is sucrose, commonly known a sugar. Hydrolysis of sucrose yields glucose and fructose. There are many enzymes which speed up the hydrolysis of polysaccharides. Invertase is used industrially to hydrolyze sucrose to so-called invert sugar.