The study of enzymatically-catalyzed reactions gives insight into the study of organic reaction mechanisms in general, and into the topic of catalysis especially. This course explores the methods and frameworks for determining mechanisms of enzymatic reactions. These methods are based on a firm foundation of chemical kinetics and organic reaction mechanisms. As the course progresses, the concepts of mechanism and its elucidation is applied to specific enzymatic processes as we discuss reaction intermediates and stereochemistry of enzymatic reactions. Our discussions of modern methods include the use of altered reactants, including mechanism-based inactivators and genetically modified enzymes as tools for probing enzymatic reactions.
Evaluation is based on problem sets, quizzes, a midterm exam, a paper, and a final exam.