Sulfoacetaldehyde bisulfite adduct is a substrate for enzymes presumed to act on sulfoacetaldehyde

Sulfoacetaldehyde, an intermediate of interest to those studying microbial metabolism of sulfonates, is commonly synthesized as the bisulfite adduct. A published method presumed to convert this to the free aldehyde (and cited several times elsewhere in the literature) has been shown to be ineffective; this had not been realized by its users because the enzymes under study recognize the adduct as a substrate. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.