The unstable intermediate product 1-hydroxyalkyl-sn-glycerol rearranges into the fatty aldehyde and the free glycerol derivative. The fatty aldehyde is then further oxidized to the corresponding acid by fatty aldehyde dehydrogenase.
Alkylglycerol monooxygenase is a membrane-bound mixed-function oxidase and harbours a fatty acid hydroxylase motif. The iron is believed to be coordinated by a diiron center composed of eight histidines, which can be found in all enzymes containing this motif.
Nomenclature
The systematic name for this enzyme is 1-alkyl-sn-glycerol,tetrahydrobiopterin:oxygen oxidoreductase. Other names in use are glyceryl-ether monooxygenase, glyceryl-ether cleaving enzyme, glyceryl ether oxygenase, glyceryl etherase, and O-alkylglycerol monooxygenase.
Pfleger RC, Piantadosi C, Snyder F (1967). "The biocleavage of isomeric glyceryl ethers by soluble liver enzymes in a variety of species". Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 144 (3): 633–48. doi:10.1016/0005-2760(67)90052-5. PMID4383918.