1. Hydroxyoxoglutarate was obtained by three methods: decarboxylation of oxalomalic acid, and synthesis from glyoxylate and pyruvate by using either Mg(2+) or an enzyme from rat liver as catalysts. 2. The inhibitory effects of oxalomalate and hydroxyoxoglutarate upon aconitate hydratase, isocitrate dehydrogenase (NADP) and oxoglutarate dehydrogenase were investigated. 3. Oxalomalate at low concentrations (1mm) inhibited almost completely both aconitate hydratase and isocitrate dehydrogenase. Hydroxyoxoglutarate also inhibited these enzymes, but at concentrations approximately tenfold that of oxalomalate. 4. Oxalomalate and hydroxyoxoglutarate, at the higher concentrations, inhibited oxoglutarate dehydrogenase to approximately the same extent. 5. It is suggested that the ability of glyoxylate to control reaction rates in the tricarboxylic acid cycle must in some degree be due to its condensation with oxaloacetate and pyruvate to form enzyme inhibitors.