a ketotriose monosaccharide monophosphate, a derivative of the trihydric alcohol glycerol, with phosphate groups linked by an ester bond to one of the alcohol groups. It is an intermediate product in the decomposition of carbohydrates during glycolysis and fermentation. Dihydroxyacetone phosphate is formed along with phosphoglyceric aldehyde in the reversible reaction of the splitting of fructoside phosphate by the enzyme aldolase. As a result, one molecule of hexose diphosphate (fructose 1,6-diphosphate) yields two molecules of triose phosphate (dihydroxyacetone phosphate and phosphoglyceric aldehyde), which are interconvertible by the enzyme triose phosphate isomerase and are in constant equilibrium. Under ordinary conditions dioxyacetone phosphate does not accumulate in tissues but undergoes further changes.