Abstract
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.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 684-685 |
| Number of pages | 2 |
| Journal | Structure |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 1 2005 |
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Allosteric control of O2 reactivity in Rieske oxygenases. / Lipscomb, John D; Hoffman, Brian M.
In: Structure, Vol. 13, No. 5, 01.05.2005, p. 684-685.Research output: Contribution to journal › Short survey
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Allosteric control of O2 reactivity in Rieske oxygenases
AU - Lipscomb, John D
AU - Hoffman, Brian M.
PY - 2005/5/1
Y1 - 2005/5/1
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
VL - 13
SP - 684
EP - 685
JO - Structure with Folding & design
JF - Structure with Folding & design
SN - 0969-2126
IS - 5
ER -