In the citric acid cycle, malate is dehydrogenated to oxaloacetate in a highly endergonic reaction with a ΔG’o of +30 kJ mol-1: L‐malate + NAD+ ⇌ oxaloacetate + NADH + H+ Calculate the equilibrium constant K’eq of this reaction. What is the implication of this result?

Answer :  The value of of this reaction is,

At equilibrium, [L-malate] > [oxaloacetate]

Explanation :

The relation between the equilibrium constant and standard Gibbs free energy is:

where,

= standard Gibbs free energy  = +30 kJ/mol = +30000 J/mol

R = gas constant = 8.314 J/K.mol

T = temperature =

 = equilibrium constant  = ?

The given reaction is:

Therefore, the value of of this reaction is,

As, the value of < 1 that means the reaction mixture contains reactants.

At equilibrium, [L-malate] > [oxaloacetate]

vanderwaal's forces of attraction are the electrostatic intermolecular forces that exist in a molecule due to the temporary or permanent dipoles that are developed in a molecule. in , the major intermolecular forces are dipole-dipole interactions as the molecule is polar (bent structure). so the vanderwaal's forces of interaction in between molecules are the permanent dipole-dipole interactions that develop due to the dipole that exists in between the polar h - s bond. the positively charged hydrogen atom is attracted towards the negative end of the dipole that is sulfur of the adjacent molecule. therefore, these forces of attraction are relatively stronger than that of london dispersion forces that exist in non polar molecules.