TY - JOUR
T1 - Allosteric control of O2 reactivity in Rieske oxygenases
AU - Lipscomb, John D.
AU - Hoffman, Brian M.
PY - 2005/5
Y1 - 2005/5
N2 - Oxygen is Nature's perfect reagent. On one hand, it is potentially a very strong oxidant. On the other hand, this potential is caged because the two highest energy valence electrons of the O2 molecule are unpaired. As a result, O2 is relatively unreactive with most other molecules, as almost all of these have paired electrons. Consequently, by modulating the properties of the O2 valence electrons, Nature can generate a reactive species under controlled conditions, catalyzing difficult reactions while still rigorously enforcing specificity. Special sets of enzymes termed oxygenases and oxidases have evolved to perform this task.
AB - Oxygen is Nature's perfect reagent. On one hand, it is potentially a very strong oxidant. On the other hand, this potential is caged because the two highest energy valence electrons of the O2 molecule are unpaired. As a result, O2 is relatively unreactive with most other molecules, as almost all of these have paired electrons. Consequently, by modulating the properties of the O2 valence electrons, Nature can generate a reactive species under controlled conditions, catalyzing difficult reactions while still rigorously enforcing specificity. Special sets of enzymes termed oxygenases and oxidases have evolved to perform this task.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=18944405381&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=18944405381&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.str.2005.04.003
DO - 10.1016/j.str.2005.04.003
M3 - Short survey
C2 - 15893657
AN - SCOPUS:18944405381
VL - 13
SP - 684
EP - 685
JO - Structure with Folding & design
JF - Structure with Folding & design
SN - 0969-2126
IS - 5
ER -