AN INTRODUCTION TO ORGANIC REACTIONS:
ACIDS AND BASES
SHUTTLING THE PROTONS
- Carbonic anhydrase regulates the acidity of blood and the physiological
conditions relating to blood pH.
HCO 3 −+H+ H 2 CO 3 H 2 O+CO 2
Carbonic anhydrase
- The breath rate is influenced by one’s relative blood acidity.
- Diamox (acetazolamide) inhibits carbonic anhydrase, and this, in turn, increases
the blood acidity. The increased blood acidity stimulates breathing and
thereby decreases the likelihood of altitude sickness.
NN
NH S S
NH 2
O O
O
Diamox (acetazolamide)
3.1 REACTIONS AND THEIR MECHANISMS
3.1A CATEGORIES OF REACTIONS
- Substitution Reactions:
H 3 C Cl +Na+ OH− OH
H 2 O
H 3 C +Na+ Cl−
A substitutionreaction^