What is "itaconic acid"

itaconic acid \it`a*con"ic ac"id\, n. (Chem.) The unsaturated dicarboxylic acid CH2=C(COOH)CH2.COOH, also called methylenesuccynic acid and propylene dicarboxylic acid.

n. (context chemistry English) one of the isomeric dicarboxylic acids produced by the distillation of citric acid, or as metabolites by microorganisms, CH₂=C(CO₂H)-CH₂CO₂H

n. a crystalline carboxylic acid; occurs in some fermentations of sugars

Itaconic acid, or methylenesuccinic acid, is an organic compound. Itaconic acid is a white crystalline powder. Itaconic acid is a naturally occurring compound, non-toxic, and readily biodegradable. The name itaconic was devised as an anagram of aconitic.

Historically, itaconic acid was obtained by the distillation of citric acid. Since the 1960s, it is produced industrially by the fermentation of carbohydrates such as glucose using Aspergillus terreus. As such, it is a fully sustainable industrial building block. It is primarily used as a co-monomer in the production of acrylonitrile- butadiene- styrene and acrylate latexes with applications in the paper and architectural coating industry.

Itaconic acid is produced in cells of macrophage lineage and as such it has in vitro activity against bacteria expressing the enzyme isocitrate lyase such as Salmonella enterica and Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

However, cells of macrophage lineage have to "pay the price" for making itaconate, and they lose the ability to perform mitochondrial substrate-level phosphorylation,