Pyruvic acid

Pyruvic acid is a three-carbon alpha-keto acid formed at the end of glycolysis. Its ionized form, pyruvate, is a central substrate for energy production and biosynthesis.

Glycolysis: A sequence of reactions that converts glucose into pyruvate while producing ATP and NADH. Glycolysis produces pyruvate as its final carbon-containing product.
Alpha-keto acid: An organic acid with a keto group on the carbon adjacent to its carboxyl group. Pyruvic acid is the simplest biologically central example of this molecular class.
Cori cycle: A metabolic cycle in which lactate from peripheral tissues is converted to glucose in the liver and returned to those tissues. Pyruvate reduced to lactate in working muscle can return to the liver as cycle fuel.
Lactate: The conjugate base of lactic acid, produced by reducing pyruvate in a reaction that oxidizes NADH. Lactate differs by reduction of pyruvate’s keto group and can be converted back to it.
Pyruvate dehydrogenase complex: A multienzyme complex that converts pyruvate into acetyl-CoA, carbon dioxide, and NADH. This reaction commits pyruvate to aerobic oxidation and links glycolysis to the citric acid cycle.
Carboxylic acid: An organic compound containing a carboxyl group, which can donate a proton to form a carboxylate. Its carboxyl group gives pyruvic acid its acidic form and contributes to pyruvate’s charge in cells.
Gluconeogenesis: The synthesis of glucose from noncarbohydrate precursors, including lactate, glycerol, and amino acids. Pyruvate can enter this pathway after conversion to oxaloacetate.
Oxaloacetate: A four-carbon dicarboxylate that participates in the citric acid cycle and gluconeogenesis. Carboxylation adds carbon dioxide to pyruvate to form this four-carbon metabolite.
Lactate dehydrogenase: An enzyme that reversibly converts pyruvate to lactate while interconverting NADH and NAD⁺. It regenerates NAD⁺ by reducing pyruvate when glycolysis outpaces oxidative metabolism.
Keto–enol tautomerism: The reversible interconversion of a carbonyl compound and an enol through proton transfer and bond rearrangement. Pyruvic acid can participate in this equilibrium because it contains a carbonyl group adjacent to acidic hydrogens.

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Lactic acidRelated: Its reduction is the immediate biochemical route to lactate.