Matti National High School

Grade 10 - Krypton

Research Involving Chemical Reactions:

Hydrolysis Reaction

Submitted by: Louise Zandra F. Rañon

Submitted to: Antina Gerolaga
 Introduction

HYDROLYSIS

The term hydrolysis refers to dissolution reactions in which either (or both) of the O-H bonds in
water is broken resulting in the release of H+ and OH- into solution. The word hydrolysis comes
from the word hydro, which is Greek for water, and lysis, which means "to unbind." In practical
terms, hydrolysis means the act of separating chemicals when to water is added. There are three
main types of hydrolysis: salt, acid, and base hydrolysis. Hydrolysis, the opposite of
condensation, is a chemical reaction in which water breaks down another compound and changes
its makeup. Most instances of organic hydrolysis combine water with neutral molecules, while
inorganic hydrolysis pairs water with ionic molecules.

3 Common Types of Hydrolysis

 Salts - Salt formed from a strong acid and a weak base will make an acidic solution
when added to water. The reason this occurs is because when the salt dissociates, the
conjugate acid of the weak base will donate a proton, or one hydrogen ion, to water
and form hydronium. This is the most common type of hydrolysis.

There are four possible mechanisms of forming salts:

1. If the salt is formed from a strong base and strong acid, then the salt solution is
neutral, indicating that the bonds in the salt solution will not break apart
(indicating no hydrolysis occurred) and is basic.
2. If the salt is formed from a strong acid and weak base, the bonds in the salt
solution will break apart and becomes acidic.
3. If the salt is formed from a strong base and weak acid, the salt solution is basic
and hydrolyzes.
4. If the salt is formed from a weak base and weak acid, will hydrolyze, but the
acidity or basicity depends on the equilibrium constants of Ka and Kb. If the Ka
value is greater than the Kb value, the resulting solution will be acidic and vice
versa.
  Acid - Water can act as an acid or a base based on the Brønsted-Lowry acid theory.
If it acts as a Bronsted-Lowry acid, the water molecule would donate a proton (H+),
also written as a hydronium ion (H3O+). If it acts as a Bronsted-Lowry base, it would
accept a proton (H+). An acid hydrolysis reaction is very much the same as an acid
dissociation reaction.

 Base - This reaction is very similar to the hydrolysis for base dissociation. Again, on
a practical note, a base that often dissociates in water is ammonia.

What is Hydrolysis Reaction?

Hydrolysis reactions in living organisms are performed with the help of catalysis by a class of
enzymes known as hydrolases. The biochemical reactions that break down polymers, such as
proteins (which are peptide bonds between amino acids), nucleotides, complex sugars and starch,
and fats are catalyzed by this class of enzymes. Within this class are lipases, amylases,
proteinases hydrolyze fats, sugars, and proteins, respectively.

Cellulose-degrading bacteria and fungi play a special role in paper production and other
everyday biotechnology applications because they have enzymes (such as cellulases and
esterases) that can break cellulose into polysaccharides (ii.e., polymers of sugar molecules) or
glucose, and break down stickies.

For example, Proteinase was added to the cell extract, in order to hydrolyze the peptides and
produce a mixture of free amino acids.

When does Hydrolysis Reaction occurs?

Hydrolysis reactions occur when organic compounds react with water. They are characterized by
the splitting of a water molecule into a hydrogen and a hydroxide group with one or both of these
becoming attached to an organic starting product. Hydrolysis usually requires the use of an acid
or base catalyst and is used in the synthesis of many useful compounds. The term "hydrolysis"
literally means to split with water; the inverse process, when water is formed in a reaction, is
called condensation.

Hydrolysis Formula
Hydrolysis involving organic compounds may be illustrated by the reaction of water with an
ester of a carboxylic acid; all such esters have the general formula RCO―OR′, in which R and
R′ are combining groups (for example, if R and R′ both represent the methyl group, CH3, the
ester is methyl acetate). The hydrolysis involves several steps, of which the slowest is the
formation of a covalent bond between the oxygen atom of the water molecule and the carbon
atom of the ester. In succeeding steps, which are very rapid, the carbon–oxygen bond of the ester
breaks and hydrogen ions become detached from the original water molecule and attached to the
nascent alcohol molecule. The whole reaction is represented by the equation

RCO―OR′ + H2O → RCO―OH + R′―OH,

in which RCO―OH denotes a molecule of a carboxylic acid, R′―OH denotes a molecule of an

alcohol, and the dashes represent covalent bonds that are broken or formed during the reaction.

Use of Hydrolysis in the "Real World"

In nature, living organisms are only able to live by processing fuel to make energy. The energy
that is converted from food, is stored into ATP molecules (Adenosine Triphosphate). Life
requires many processes in order to sustain itself such as cellular respiration, respiration, muscle
contraction, distribution of hormones, transmittance of neuro-transmitters in the brain, etc. All of
these important processes require an input of energy. To distribute this energy, the energy from
the ATP molecules must be released. To release the energy stored in the bonds of ATP
molecules, hydrolysis must occur to break a phosphate group off of an ATP molecule, thus
releasing energy from the bonds. ATP now becomes ADP (Adenosine Diphosphate) from losing
a phosphate group through hydrolysis.

The digestion process relies upon hydrolysis to render the biochemical reactions that break down
food. The digestive tract secretes enzymes, such as proteases, carbohydrases, nucleases and
lipases that, along with water, catalyze the hydrolysis that releases various nutrients. Through
hydrolysis, the digestive system uses proteinases to break down proteins into amino acids,
lipases to turn fats into glycerol and fatty acids, amylases to render starch into maltose and
sucrases to break down sucrose. Another enzyme, lactase, catalyzes the hydrolysis reaction that
breaks down lactose so the body can digest milk. Many people do not naturally produce lactase
into adulthood, which renders them lactose-intolerant.