The diagram below summarizes an interesting result recently reported by Hanson and co-workers (DOI: 10.1021/jo800706y. At ~neutral pH, compound 13 hydrolyses with a half life of 21 minutes, whereas 14 takes 840 minutes. Understanding this difference in reactivity may allow us to understand why some enzymes can catalyze the hydrolysis of peptides with an acceleration of up to twelve orders of magnitude.
Archive for April 12th, 2009
How do molecules interact with each other?
Sunday, April 12th, 2009Understanding how molecules interact (bind) with each other when in close proximity is essential in all areas of chemistry. One specific example of this need is for the molecule shown below.