On pp. 2–7 we saw how isoprene, a simple five-carbon molecule, provides the building blocks for a myriad of important biological molecules, the terpenoids. One such molecule is responsible for you being able to read this.
Retinol (vitamin A, found in foods such as cod liver oil and carrots) is a terpenoid alcohol, which undergoes an enzyme-catalysed oxidation to form trans-retinal (an aldehyde). Trans-retinal is converted to the 11-cis-isomer by another enzyme, in an isomerisation reaction.
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