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| Identity |
| 3D Structure |
| Physicochemical data |
| Environmental fate |
| Mammal toxicology |
| Ecotoxicology |
| Metabolism |
| Safety classifications |
| Evaluation |
Toluene [108-88-3] |
| In mammals toluene (1) is oxidized in several steps. The first oxidation to benzyl alcohol (2) is catalyzed by cytochrome P450 enzymes in the liver. Subsequently, alcohol dehydrogenase oxidizes benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde (3), another oxidation by aldehyde dehydrogenase leads to benzoic acid (4). Conjugation of benzoic acid with glycine gives hippuric acid as the main urinary metabolite of toluene. A small percentage of benzoic acid is also excreted as glucuronide ester (6). Cytochrome P450 enzymes are also capable of oxidizing a small percentage of toluene to 2-methylphenol (7) and 4-methylphenol (8), which in turn are excreted as sulfates (9) or glucuronides (10) (only shown for 4-methylphenol). |
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