Phase II - Conjugation of compounds

Phase II of biotransformation is concerned with conjugation, that is using groups from cofactors to react with functional groups present or introduced from phase I on the compound. The enzymes involved are a set of transferases which perform the transfer of the cofactor group to the substrate. The resultant conjugation results in greatly increasing the excretory potential of compounds. Although most conjugations result in pharmacological inactivation or detoxification, some can result in bioactivation. Most of the phase II enzymes are located in the cytosol except UDP-glucuronosyltransferases (UGT), which are microsomal. Phase II reactions are typically much faster than phase I reactions therefore the rate-limiting step for biotransformation of a compound is usually the phase I reaction.

Summary from Reactome (R-HSA-156580), read 2026-09-23.