MOLECULE

Dehydroascorbic acid

Dehydroascorbic acid, also known as dehydroascorbate or DHAA, belongs to the class of organic compounds known as gamma butyrolactones. Gamma butyrolactones are compounds containing a gamma butyrolactone moiety, which consists of an aliphatic five-member ring with four carbon atoms, one oxygen atom, and bears a ketone group on the carbon adjacent to the oxygen atom. The (free) chemical radical semidehydroascorbic acid (SDA) also belongs to the group of oxidized ascorbic acids. Dehydroascorbic acid is an extremely weak basic (essentially neutral) compound (based on its pKa). Dehydroascorbic acid exists in all living organisms, ranging from bacteria to humans. Recycling of ascorbate via active transport of DHA into cells, followed by reduction and reuse, mitigates the inability of humans to synthesize it from glucose. norepinephrine and dehydroascorbic acid can be biosynthesized from dopamine and ascorbic acid through its interaction with the enzyme dopamine beta-hydroxylase. In humans, dehydroascorbic acid is involved in the metabolic disorder called hawkinsinuria. Solutions in water containing ascorbic acid and copper ions and/or peroxide, resulting in rapid oxidation of ascorbic acid to dehydroascorbic acid, have been shown to possess powerful but short-lived antimicrobial, antifungal, and antiviral properties, and have been used to treat gingivitis, periodontal disease, and dental plaque. The actual structure shown by spectroscopic studies is the result of rapid hemiacetal formation between the 6-OH and the 3-carbonyl groups. The lifetime of the stabilized species is commonly said to be about 6 minutes under biological conditions. Dehydroascorbic acid is expected to be in Cannabis as all living plants are known to produce and metabolize it.