Talk:Β-Hydroxybutyric acid

Laboratory
What is the clinical significance of the presence of Beta-Hydroxybutyrate in blood. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 159.178.93.3 (talk) 18:25, 22 March 2007 (UTC).

Odor
I wish someone knowlegeable would add information about the odor of this chemical, and the mechanism and routes of excretion from the human body. Does it mix with acetone to modify the breath odor that would have been associated with acetone alone? David Spector (talk) 23:43, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

BHB is not a ketone
Compare the structure of BHB to what structurally defines a ketone: "Ketones feature a carbonyl group (C=O) bonded to two other carbon atoms." Notice on the right side of the posted skeletal structure of BHB, that the carbonyl group is bound to one carbon atom (R on the ketone page example), but also an OH (R) group, which does not' contain carbon. Thus, β-hydroxybutyric acid is not a ketone.

I hope that clarifies things. Erebusthedark (talk) 23:29, 21 March 2014 (UTC)


 * Indeed, its formally a beta hydroxy acid. Much the chemistry for this article seems to be confused. I think that when it's referring to ketones it means acetoacetic acid, which can be formed via 3-hydroxybutyrate_dehydrogenase. More references required I think. Project Osprey (talk) 00:00, 22 March 2014 (UTC)

Metabolism role
JCEM review: 10.1210/clinem/dgaa370 JFW &#124; T@lk  21:21, 18 August 2020 (UTC)