Concorde Career College Have You Ever Wondered how We All Survive Chemistry Response

1-According to Khan Academy (n.d.), step 4 and 5 for glycolysis is:

“Step 4. Fructose-1,6-bisphosphate splits to form two three-carbon sugars: dihydroxyacetone phosphate DHAP and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate. They are isomers of each other, but only one—glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate—can directly continue through the next steps of glycolysis.

Step 5. DHAP is converted into glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate. The two molecules exist in equilibrium, but the equilibrium is “pulled” strongly downward as glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate is used up. Thus, all of the DHAP is eventually converted.”

In both steps, not a single atom was released during the reaction. This shows good atom economy.

2- Glycolysis is a 10 step metabolic process which converts glucose into NADH, FADH2, and most importantly 2 ATP. Specifically, during step 4 of glycolysis “The enzyme Aldolase splits fructose 1, 6-bisphosphate into two sugars that are isomers of each other. These two sugars are dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP) and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate (GAP)” (Aryal, 2019). In step 5, the DHAP molecules are converted into a GAP molecule by the enzyme Triosephosphate isomerase (TIM). This results in two 3 carbon chain molecules simultaneously, no atoms being lost while undergoing steps 4 and 5 of glycolysis. The good atom economy between these two steps exemplifies the efficiency of the metabolic pathways within the human body