Final Flashcards
what is the reaction for nitrogen fixation? What are the two places you find nitrogen fixation and what are the conditions for each?
N2 + 3H2 -> NH3. can be an industrial process (200 atmospheres and 400 degrees) or a bacterial process (atmospheric pressure, ambient temp)
what are two ways a reaction can be accelerated? what is a potential problem?
adding heat or adding a catalyst. problem with this is that when you add heat, you increase all reactions and not just the ones you want
what kind of proteins are enzymes, and what kind of strucutres do they have?
typically globular proteins, can have 1,2,3,4 structure
what are some properties of enzymes?
they accelerate reaction rates, are regenerated at the end of the reaction, 10^6 to 10^20 fold increases in reaction rates, they are highly specific (no side reactions)
are enzymes regulated? what does this mean?
enzymes are regulated. this distinguishes them from other non biological catalysts. they have flexible structures. changing the shape of an enzyme changes its function
regarding free energy, when will a reaction proceed forward?
will only proceed if the free energy of the products is less than the free energy of the reactants (delta G is negative). this is an exergonic reaction and thermodynamically favorable
what is the activation energy / activation barrier
the energy required to reach the transition state from the ground state of the reactants
what is the transition state?
most critical for determining how fast a reaction will go, it has the highest free energy because it is most unstable. occurs at the peak of the activation barrier (the energy level that must be exceeded for the reaction to proceed). a lower barrier means the more stable the TS and the more often the reaction proceeds
what do enzymes effect and what do they not effect?
enzymes reduce the free energy of the transition state, but DO NOT EFFECT THE FREE ENERGY CHANGE OF THE REACTION
what are the four ways in which enzymes reduce the free energy of the transition state?
- removing substrate from aqueous solution (desolvation) 2. proximity and orientation effects 3. taking part in the reaction mechanism 4. stabilizing the transition state
what is the active site and what is located in it and what is it important for? what is it complementary to?
region of enzyme where catalysis occurs. usually only a small portion of the protein. where the key amino acids are located (binding and catalysis). important for affinity, specificity and rate. complementary to substrate/TS
what does the design of the active site contribute to? what happens in the absence of a substrate?
affinity and specificity. active site changes in the absence of a substrate
what is desolvation and what are 3 advantages?
exclusion of water. advantages are that it accelerations the reaction, enhances polar interactions (h bonds and ion pairs), and prevents side reactions.
what does the exclusion of water do in the induced fit model?
in induced fit (where the enzyme changes shape when substrate binds), even more water is excluded and catalytic groups can come together
how do enzymes effect proximity and orientation?
chemical reactions only occur if substrates come together in the right orientation. the active site of enzymes bring substrates close to each other and in the correct geometry
what are the ways ionizable side chains participate in chemical catalysis? how is this achieved?
some enzymes participate in reactions by positioning functional groups near the substrates in the active site. these groups can function as: acid base catalysts, covalent catalysis, metal ion catalysis. achieved through amino acids or cofactors (or both)
what do amino acid side chains do in acid-base catalysis? what about covalent catalysis?
these groups can act as acid or base catalysts, depending on their state of protonation. in nucleophilic catalysis, they can act as nucleophiles when they are in their deprotinated states
what is a coenzyme? what are two types of coenzymes and how do they differ?
coenzymes are organic cofactors. the two types of coenzymes are cosubstrates and prosthetic groups. cosubstrates are converted and released (not a permanent part of the structure). prosthetic groups are converted in the active site and then restored
do enzymes bind substrates better or the transition state? why? what is this called?
bind the transition state better, because the TS is more unstable and will release more energy. called preferential transition state stabilization
what is a reasons transition state analogs are potent inhibitors of many enzymes? when is this used?
bind to enzymes with higher affinity compared to substrate. rational basis for drug design
what does km (michaelis constant) mean? what does a low value mean? how is km represented on a graph?
km is a measure of the affinity of the enzyme for the substrate. the lower the value of Km means the more tightly the substrate is bound. km is also a parameter that determines the shape of V0 vs [S], it is the substrate concentration when the initial velocity is one half the Vmax value
what is competitive inhibitions for enzyme activity?
substances that bind reversibly in the active site. they resemble the substrate or transition state (substrate analogue or TS analogue) but do not react.
how do competitive inhibitors block enzyme activity? what does this cause?
they physically block the active site. causes an apparent decrease in the affinity for enzyme and substrate (increase km)
how do you overcome competitive inhibition?
increasing substrate concentration will overcome inhibition (note that vmax does not change)
