Benzylsuccinate synthase catalyzes a highly unusual reaction: the addition of toluene to fumarate to form (R)-benzylsuccinic acid. The stereochemistry of this reaction has been examined using [d3-methyl]toluene and either fumarate or its cis stereoisomer, maleate, as the substrates. We demonstrate that when fumarate is the cosubstrate, deuterium is transferred from toluene to the C-3 pro-(R) position of benzylsuccinate, implying a syn addition of toluene to the double bond of fumarate. However, when maleate is the cosubstrate, the addition of toluene occurs in an anti fashion, so that deuterium transfer to the C-3 pro-(R) position of benzylsuccinate is also observed. This is consistent with the formation of the C-3 radical of benzylsuccinate as an intermediate, in which rotation about the C-2-C-3 bond can occur to relieve the sterically unfavorable cis conformation of the carboxylate groups when maleate is the cosubstrate.

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Propargylic and activated allylic amines are known to inactivate the quinone-dependent plasma amine oxidases, possibly through active-site modification by the alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehyde turnover products. Although homopropargylamine (1-amino-3-butyne, 1) is a nonobvious candidate as a mechanism-based inhibitor, 1 was found to be an unusually potent time- and concentration-dependent irreversible inactivator of bovine plasma amine oxidase (BPAO), exhibiting a 30 min IC(50) of 2.9 microM at 30 degrees C ([BPAO] = 1.2 microM). Preserved cofactor redox activity of the denatured inactivated enzyme indicates that inactivation by 1 involves either a cofactor modification that reverses upon enzyme denaturation or a modification of an active-site residue. Because inactivation by 1 may involve enzyme alkylation by the reactive 2,3-butadienal (3) tautomer of the 3-butynal turnover product of 1, aldehyde 3 was prepared and was found to inactivate BPAO, but only at high concentration. In addition, whereas inhibition by 3 was blunted by the presence of mercaptoethanol, no such protection was observed against 1. The amine whose turnover should lead directly to 3 was prepared (1-amino-2,3-butadiene, 4) and was found to be an even more potent inactivator of BPAO than 1, exhibiting a 5 min IC(50) of 1.25 microM. Rat liver mitochondrial monoamine oxidase was also inactivated by 4, as expected, but only very weakly by 1. Potential mechanisms explaining the selective inhibition of BPAO by 1 are discussed.

We have investigated the reaction of glutamate mutase with the glutamate analog, 2-thiolglutarate. In the standard assay, 2-thiolglutarate behaves as a competitive inhibitor with K i = 0.05 mM. However, rather than simply binding inertly at the active site, 2-thiolglutarate elicits cobalt-carbon bond homolysis and the formation of 5′-deoxyadenosine. The enzyme exhibits a complicated EPR spectrum in the presence of 2-thiolglutarate that is markedly different from any previously observed with the enzyme. The spectrum was well simulated by assuming that it arises from electron-electron spin coupling between a thioglycolyl radical and low-spin Co 2+ in cob(II)alamin. Analysis of the zero-field splitting parameters obtained from the simulations places the organic radical at ∼ 10 Å from the cobalt, and at a tilt angle of ∼ 70° to the normal of the corrin ring. This orientation is in good agreement with that expected from the crystal structure of glutamate mutase complexed with substrate. 2-thiolglutarate appears to react in a manner analogous to glutamate by first forming a thioglutaryl radical at C-4 that then undergoes fragmentation to produce acrylate and the sulfurstablized thioglycolyl radical. The thioglycolyl radical accumulates on the enzyme suggesting it is too stable to undergo further steps in the mechanism at a detectable rate. Keywordsenzyme; coenzyme-B 12 ; free radicals; isomerization; substrate analog; EPR spectrometry Adenosylcobalamin 1 (Coenzyme B 12 , AdoCbl) is the coenzyme for a group of enzymes that catalyze unusual rearrangement or elimination reactions, as well as for class II ribonucleotide reductases. In these enzymes, the coenzyme serves as a masked form of the 5′-deoxyadenosyl radical that is generated through homolytic fission of the AdoCbl cobalt-carbon bond (1-6). An interesting and still poorly understood aspect of these reactions is how these enzymes catalyze homolysis of the coenzyme because the generation of free radicals from stable, closed shell molecules is energetically highly unfavorable.In all cases, homolysis of AdoCbl is tightly coupled to the formation of substrate-based radicals (or in the case of ribonucleotide reductase, a protein-based thiyl radical). The initially formed 5′-deoxyadenosyl radical is extremely unstable and has never been observed spectroscopically.