Book description
Enzymes are giant macromolecules which catalyse biochemical
reactions. They are remarkable in many ways. Their three-dimensional
structures are highly complex, yet they are formed by spontaneous
folding of a linear polypeptide chain. Their catalytic properties are
far more impressive than synthetic catalysts which operate under more
extreme conditions. Each enzyme catalyses a single chemical reaction
on a particular chemical substrate with very high enantioselectivity
and enantiospecificity at rates which approach “catalytic perfection”.
Living cells are capable of carrying out a huge repertoire of
enzyme-catalysed chemical reactions, some of which have little or no
precedent in organic chemistry.
The popular textbook Introduction to Enzyme and Coenzyme Chemistry
has been thoroughly updated to include information on the most
recent advances in our understanding of enzyme action, with additional
recent examples from the literature used to illustrate key points. A
major new feature is the inclusion of two-colour figures, and the
addition of over 40 new figures of the active sites of enzymes
discussed in the text, in order to illustrate the interplay between
enzyme structure and function.
This new edition provides a concise but comprehensive account from
the perspective of organic chemistry, what enzymes are, how they work,
and how they catalyse many of the major classes of enzymatic
reactions, and will continue to prove invaluable to both undergraduate
and postgraduate students of organic, bio-organic and medicinal
chemistry, chemical biology, biochemistry and biotechnology.
