Safety evaluation of certain food additives - ipcs inchem

488 FURAN-SUBSTITUTED ALIPHATIC HYDROCARBONS
Table 1 (contd)
Flavouring agent No. CAS No. and structure
Furfuryl 2-methyl-3-furyl disulfide 1524 109537-55-5
3-[(2-Methyl-3-furyl)thio]-2-butanone 1525 61295-44-1
O-Ethyl S-(2-furylmethyl)thiocarbonate 1526 376595-42-5
CAS: Chemical Abstracts Service.
2. BIOLOGICAL DATA
2.1 Biochemical aspects
2.1.1 Hydrolysis
O
O
S S
S
O S
In general, esters are expected to be hydrolysed to the corresponding
alcohol and the corresponding carboxylic acid (see Figure 1). Like other aliphatic
esters, aliphatic esters containing furan substitution undergo hydrolysis to yield the
corresponding alcohols and carboxylic acids. Furoate esters are hydrolysed to
2-furoic acid and the corresponding alcohol. Hydrolysis is catalysed by classes of
enzymes recognized as carboxylesterases or esterases (Heymann, 1980), the most
important of which are the A-esterases. In mammals, A-esterases occur in most
tissues throughout the body, but predominate in the hepatocytes (Heymann, 1980).
Figure 1. General ester hydrolysis
O
R O
R'
O
R OH +
R' OH
O
O
O
O