Britannica Sources used in this answer

How did fluoroacetic acid and fluorocitric acid help scientists study citrate oxidation?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Diagram illustrating metabolism with two sections: anabolic reaction on the left shows energy used to build larger molecules from smaller ones, while catabolic reaction on the right shows larger molecules breaking down into smaller molecules with energy released. — Metabolomics In anabolic reactions, a cell uses energy to combine small molecules into larger molecules. In catabolic reactions, molecules are broken down, and energy is released.

Fluoroacetic acid and fluorocitric acid have been used by scientists as metabolic poisons to study the tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA cycle), also known as the citric acid cycle.

When these substances are ingested by animals, citric acid accumulates in the liver. This accumulation occurs because fluorocitric acid—either administered directly or formed from fluoroacetic acid via the TCA cycle—acts as an inhibitor of a specific enzyme responsible for citrate oxidation. By causing this specific blockage, researchers were able to identify the inhibited step and gain insights into the sequence of reactions within the cycle.1