Acetyl Coenzyme A is a thioester derivatives of acetic acid of carboxylic acid and

acetic acid derived ester which is methyl acetate. Acetyl CoA consists of two parts
which are acetyl group and coenzyme A. CoA is a commonly used carrier for
activated acyl group such as acetyl, fatty acyl and others. Its main function is to
deliver the acetyl group to the citric acid cycle to be oxidized for energy production. It
will enters the citric acid cycle, where the acetyl group is then oxidized to carbon
dioxide and water, with the energy and then it will released 11 ATP and one GTP per
acetyl group.

Acyl group is link to CoA using thioester bond and it has a large negative standard
free energy of hydrolysis. Acyl group attached to CoA is considered to be activated
because the thioester bond is qualifies as a high energy bond. Because of the thioester
link is very high energy bond, therefore it is unstable. So, it means that the acetyl
group can be easily transferred to other molecules, and acetyl-CoA is used as a
universal intermediate which provides the C-C fragment for numerous biochemical
syntheses . The 2 C that is provided by acetyl CoA is methyl group and carbony
group. The most important acid is acetic acid, and when it is joined to CoA, the
resulting compound is known as acetyl-CoA.

Figure 1

Figure 1 shows the acetic acid - the C2 carbon unit that joins to Coenzyme A..
 Thioester bond

Figure 2

Figure 2 shows the thioester bond, joining together acetyl and CoA to make acetyl-
CoA.

Acetyl CoA will works together with malonyl CoA in biosynthetic reaction. Malonyl
CoA is a derivative of dicarboxylic acid that is malonic acid. The acetyl CoA
requirecofctor biotin to do a carboxylation process which can produce malonyl CoA.
This reaction is nucleophilic substitution that is controlled by an enzyme. Before
acetyl CoA and malonyl CoA can be used in biosynthetic reaction, it have to attached
to multifunctional enzyme complex that is fatty acid synthase.

Acetyl CoA is at the center of lipid metabolism. It is produced from glucose, amino
acids, ketone and fatty acids. The products of acetyl CoA metabolism can be
converted to fatty acids whih turns give rise to triglycerides, phospholipid, and ketone
bodies. It is also precursor of cholestrol which can be converted to steroid hormones
and bile acids. Coenzyme A is important for carbohydrate metabolism and the process
is called Citric Acid Cycle. Moreover, Acetyl CoA is also used in the synthesis of
isoprenoid molecules, esters and amides and some steroids.

Another example of biosynthesis of acetyl coenzyme A is photosynthesis.

Photosynthesis will covert carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrate glucose. Then,
glucose will breaks down in several steps to coenzyme A.