Although all the carbon atoms of the fatty acids found in lipids are derived from the acetyl coenzyme A produced by the catabolism of carbohydrates and fatty acids, the molecule first undergoes a carboxylation, forming malonyl coenzyme A, before participating in fatty acid synthesis. The carboxylation reaction is catalyzed by acetyl CoA carboxylase, an enzyme whose prosthetic group is the vitamin biotin. The biotin–enzyme first undergoes a reaction that results in the attachment of carbon dioxide to biotin; ATP is required and forms ADP and inorganic phosphate (step [62a]).

The complex product, called carboxybiotin–enzyme, releases the carboxy moiety to acetyl coenzyme A, forming malonyl coenzyme A and restoring the biotin–enzyme (step [62b]).

The overall reaction [62] catalyzed by acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase thus involves the expenditure of one molecule of ATP for the formation of each molecule of malonyl coenzyme A from acetyl coenzyme A and carbon dioxide.

Malonyl coenzyme A and a molecule of acetyl coenzyme A react (in bacteria) with the sulfhydryl group of a relatively small molecule known as acyl-carrier protein (ACP–SH); in higher organisms ACP–SH is part of a multienzyme complex called fatty acid synthetase. ACP–SH is involved in all of the reactions leading to the synthesis of a fatty acid such as palmitic acid from acetyl coenzyme A and malonyl coenzyme A. The products of steps [63a] and [63b] are acetyl-S-ACP, malonyl-S-ACP, and coenzyme A. The enzymes catalyzing steps [63a] and [63b] are known as acetyl transacylase and malonyl transacylase, respectively. Acetyl-ACP and malonyl-ACP react in a reaction catalyzed by β-ketoacyl-ACP synthetase so that the acetyl moiety (CH₃CO―) is transferred to the malonyl moiety (⁻OOCH₂CO―). Simultaneously, the carbon dioxide fixed in step [62] is lost, leaving as a product a four-carbon moiety attached to ACP and called acetoacetyl-S-ACP (reaction [64]).

It should be noted that the carbon atoms of acetyl-S-ACP occur at the end of acetoacetyl-S-ACP (see carbon atoms numbered 4 and 3 in [64]) and that carbon dioxide plays an essentially catalytic role; the decarboxylation of the malonyl-S-ACP in [64] provides a strong thermodynamic pull toward fatty acid synthesis.

The analogy between reaction [64] of fatty acid synthesis and the cleavage reaction [25] of fatty acid catabolism is apparent in the other reactions of fatty acid synthesis. The acetoacetyl-S-ACP, for example, undergoes reduction to β-hydroxybutyryl-S-ACP (reaction [65]); the reaction is catalyzed by β-ketoacyl-ACP reductase. Reduced NADP⁺ is the electron donor, however, and not reduced NAD⁺ (which would participate in the reversal of reaction [24]). NADP⁻ is thus a product in [65].

In [66] β-hydroxybutyryl-S-ACP is dehydrated (i.e., one molecule of water is removed), in a reaction catalyzed by enoyl-ACP-hydrase, and then undergoes a second reduction, [67], in which reduced NADP⁺ again acts as the electron donor. The products of [66] are crotonyl-S-ACP and water. The products of [67], which is catalyzed by crotonyl-ACP reductase, are butyryl-S-ACP and NADP⁺.

The formation of butyryl-S-ACP in [67] completes the first of several cycles, in each of which one molecule of malonyl coenzyme A enters via reactions [62] and [63b]. In the cycle following the one ending with [67], the butyryl moiety is transferred to malonyl-S-ACP, and a molecule of carbon dioxide is again lost; a six-carbon compound results. In subsequent cycles, each of which adds two carbon atoms to the molecule via reaction [64], successively longer β-oxoacyl-S-ACP derivatives are produced.

Ultimately, a molecule with 16 carbon atoms, palmityl-S-ACP, is formed. In most organisms a deacylase catalyzes the release of free palmitic acid; in a few, synthesis continues, and an acid with 18 carbon atoms is formed. The fatty acids can then react with coenzyme A (compare reaction [21]) to form fatty acyl coenzyme A, which can condense with the glycerol 1-phosphate formed in step [61]; the product is a phosphatidic acid. The overall formation of each molecule of palmitic acid from acetyl coenzyme A—via step [62] and repeated cycles of steps [63] through [67]—requires the investment of seven molecules of ATP and 14 of reduced NADP⁺ ([68]). The process is thus an energy-requiring one (endergonic) and represents a major way by which the reducing power generated in NADP-linked dehydrogenation reactions of carbohydrate catabolism is utilized (see above The phosphogluconate pathway).

Other components

The major lipids that serve as components of membranes, called phospholipids, as well as lipoproteins, contain, in addition to two molecules of fatty acid, one molecule of a variety of different compounds. The precursors of these compounds include serine, inositol, and glycerol 1-phosphate. They are derived from intermediates of the central metabolic pathways (e.g., reaction [61]).