A tricarboxylic acid is an organic carboxylic acid whose chemical structure contains three carboxyl functional groups (−COOH). The best-known example of a tricarboxylic acid is citric acid.

Uses

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Citric acid cycle

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Citric acid, a type of tricarboxylic acid, is used in the citric acid cycle – also known as tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle or Krebs cycle – which is fundamental to all aerobic organisms.

Examples

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Common name IUPAC name Molecular formula Structural formula
citric acid 2-hydroxypropane-1,2,3-tricarboxylic acid C6H8O7  
isocitric acid 1-hydroxypropane-1,2,3-tricarboxylic acid C6H8O7  
aconitic acid prop-1-ene-1,2,3-tricarboxylic acid C6H6O6   

(cis-form and trans-form)

propane-1,2,3-tricarboxylic acid propane-1,2,3-tricarboxylic acid C3H5(COOH)3  
agaric acid 2-hydroxynonadecane-1,2,3-tricarboxylic acid C22H40O7  
trimesic acid benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylic acid C9H6O6  

See also

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Literature

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  • Ryan J. Mailloux, Robin Bériault, Joseph Lemire, Ranji Singh, Daniel R. Chénier, Robert D. Hamel, Vasu D. Appanna (2007). "The Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle, an Ancient Metabolic Network with a Novel Twist". PLOS ONE. 2 (8): e690. Bibcode:2007PLoSO...2..690M. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000690. PMC 1930152. PMID 17668068.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)