is of methionine and thymine.
Thiamine pyrophosphate is derived from another B-complex vitamin, thiamine. This coenzyme often plays a role in the removal of carboxyl ( - COOH) groups from organic acids, releasing the carbon and oxygen atoms as carbon dioxide (CO2). This coenzyme, for example, helps to remove a carboxyl group from pyruvic acid, leaving behind an acetyl group, which it donates to lipoic acid; the lipoic acid then transfers the acetyl group to coenzyme A, which finally inserts it into the beginning of the Krebs cycle. This important three-step enzymatic process requires the participation of three coenzymes; hundreds of other biochemical reactions require coenzymes as well, and this serves to explain the great significance of those molecules in the functioning of living organisms. In the case of human beings, it also serves to explain the importance of proper dietary intake of vitamins, which provide the only source of certain "building blocks" for several of these coenzymes.