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Updated: May 4, 2026

Light-driven Enzymatic Decarboxylation
Published on: May 22, 2016
Light-induced opening and closing of the intramolecular hydrogen bond in glyoxylic acid
Adriana Olbert-Majkut1, Jan Lundell, Maria Wierzejewska
1Faculty of Chemistry, University of Wrocław , F. Joliot-Curie 14, 50-383 Wrocław, Poland.
Abstract:
The isomerization process of glyoxylic acid (GA) conformers and their complexes with a water molecule were studied in a low temperature argon matrix. The research target was to understand how starting conformation and complexation affects the near-IR (NIR) induced conformer interconversion. The most stable GA conformer (Tc) is characterized by an intramolecular hydrogen bond, and it is found to undergo light-induced conformer interconversion slower than the open (Tt) conformer. Upon complexation with water, the isomerization processes slow down in the case of the Tc conformer, whereas for the Tt-based complex the influence of water is negligible on the isomerization process.
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