Question

Oxaloacetic acid is
(a) Four carbon compound
(b) Five carbon compound
(c) Six carbon compound
(d) None of the above

Answer 1

A crystalline organic compound containing the chemical formula ${ HO }_{ 2 }CC(O){ CH }_{ 2 }{ CO }_{ 2 }H$ is oxaloacetic acid (also known as oxaloacetic acid or OAA). In many processes that occur in animals, oxaloacetic acid, in the form of its conjugate base oxaloacetate, is a metabolic intermediate.

Complete Answer:
Oxaloacetic acid is a Four carbon compound with the chemical formula ${ HO }_{ 2 }CC(O){ CH }_{ 2 }{ CO }_{ 2 }H$.
Pyruvate carboxylation creates oxaloacetate (OAA). This is a reaction that requires energy and uses adenosine triphosphate ( ATP).
Malate oxidation in the cytoplasm regenerates OAA and dinucleotide adenine nicotine. Phosphorylation using guanosine triphosphate (GTP) instead of ATP is followed by decarboxylation of OAA to generate phosphoenolpyruvate.

Additional Information:
In nature, oxaloacetate occurs in several ways. In the citric acid cycle, the main route is the oxidation of L-malate, catalyzed by malate dehydrogenase. In a slow reaction with the initial product being enol-oxaloacetate, malate is also oxidized by succinate dehydrogenase. This process occurs in the mesophyll of plants through phosphoenolpyruvate, catalyzed by phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase.
Oxaloacetate can also occur from aspartic acid's trans- or deamination.

So, the correct answer is, “Four carbon compound”

Note:
- Gluconeogenesis, the urea cycle, the glyoxylate cycle, the synthesis of amino acids, the synthesis of fatty acids, and the cycle of citric acids are involved.
- If oxaloacetate is removed from the glucose synthesis cycle, it must be substituted, because if there is not enough oxaloacetate available to form citrate, it will slow down the rate of metabolism of acetyl CoA and thus the rate of ATP formation.